Upside Down: 逆さまに
by tastelikemints
Summary: Kaidoh. Momoshiro is his best friend. Inui's in love with him. Fan girls won't leave him alone. And where is he? Too caught up in his world to care. InuKai Full summary inside... DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter One_  
一 _**

* * *

Kaidoh Kaoru yawned and stretched his hands. After stretching his limbs, he leaned forward and lazily propped his head in his hands. His last class had just ended and now everyone was noisily packing up their things.

A pack of giggling girls walked past Kaidoh's workstation and bid him farewell. Kaidoh gave them a small wave with his other hand and grunted in response. They left blushing slightly and giggling a little louder. Kaidoh rolled his eyes. Girls…

They were like that every single day. Every time he acknowledged them, they would either blush or giggle; or both. Ever since he entered Seishun Gakuen High, he, along with Momoshiro had climbed the ladder of popularity effortlessly…and unwillingly on his part. Fuji, Kikumaru, Oishi, Inui, and Tezuka were already at the top since they've been at the school for a year already. Kawamura wasn't far behind them even though he had given up tennis, he was still widely recognized.

The nine of them, including Echizen, who was grudgingly captain and still back in Seishun Gakuen Junior High, were known as a legend throughout the prefecture. Kaidoh let out a sigh. They broke down his social walls he painstakingly built up.

Well…maybe not all, but most of them anyway.

Even with the constant attention, it wasn't too bad, Kaidoh thought. It was nice to be liked and accepted, although he could do without his fan club. HIS FAN CLUB! He was here for one week and he had a fan club! Unbelievable!

He couldn't believe how fast-paced high school was. In one week, he got 6 confessions, 10 love letters, and two home-made bentos. Not only that, but he was now constantly teased by his senpais, like Kikumaru and Fuji. And then there was that idiot.

Kaidoh shifted his eyes to the guy sleeping next to him. With a bored look, he flicked Momoshiro's forehead. His eye twitch a bit but he remained asleep.

Growling, Kaidoh flicked his forehead once again. "Oi! Wake up, idiot!" That did it. Momoshiro finally woke up. Kaidoh lifted his head and proceeded to pack up his books while his friend stretched. Yes you heard right. His _Friend_.

"Class over already?" he slurred, rubbing his eyes.

Kaidoh only grunted in response, clasping his bag shut. He waved to the last girls leaving and got up.

"Where you goin'?"

Kaidoh had slung his bag over his shoulder and was almost out the door. He stopped and looked over his shoulder, only to see Momoshiro wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Kaidoh scowled. Disgusting.

"It's the first club meeting for freshmen today." He paused, raising an eyebrow. "You coming?"

Momoshiro grinned and roughly shoved everything into his bag and proceeded to catch up to Kaidoh.

Yes, as hard as it was to believe, Momoshiro Takashi was Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend. Not that he'll ever admit it out loud.

Even though Momoshiro carries the title of 'best friend of Kaidoh Kaoru' it didn't mean their meaningless banter, arguments, fights, and competitiveness had stopped. No, their banter and fights would never cease to exist, but they _had_ slightly lessened. _Slightly_. The competitiveness was worst than ever, but it was what drove them to improve their tennis, so no one was complaining.

Kaidoh had no idea how that happened anyway. He vaguely remembered some of his classmates asking if he and Momoshiro were best friends. He was going to set them straight but the loud mouth had beat him to it and announced it to the whole room that yes, the title was taken by him. Pissed off, Kaidoh proceeded to deny it and tell Momoshiro off. The next thing they knew, they were in the Principal's office with wrinkled clothes and bed-head hair.

But Kaidoh could do nothing about it. The words were said and spread and they were just _stuck_ with the title. Oh boy, lucky him.

"Did you hear? Tezuka-buchou is captain this year," Momoshiro said excitedly.

"Hn." He already knew this because Inui had already alerted him of this news over summer break.

"Yeah, do you think we'll be able to get on the team? I mean, I know there's that one rule that freshmen aren't allowed to –"

Kaidoh sighed when he realized Momoshiro was going to yap all the way to the courts. Which was on the other side of the building. Great.

Kaidoh's mind drifted back to Inui. Out of everyone, he had missed Inui the most. Not only was he his doubles partner, but also his first real friend. Inui wasn't afraid of him, unlike his peers, but befriended him because Kaidoh was simply Kaidoh. And Kaidoh was happy for that. He figured that Inui had most likely went though the same loneliness as Kaidoh had. He wasn't stupid. He hears more than his senpais give him credit for. He is aware of how Inui's peers think of him. He was unusually tall, really creepy, and a dork.

But it wasn't his fault. His senpai was a very kind and considering person, if you look past his labels. What his peers were saying about him was wrong.

Okay, so his senpai _was _tall; he _was _creepy (Kaidoh blames the opaque glasses); and he's _technically_ a dork. A scientific dork to be exact. But if you get past all those, he's just a normal person. Just kind of weird.

And creepy.

And scares the shit out of Kaidoh sometimes but hey, Kaidoh deserved it probably.

Wait.

Since when _did_ Kaidoh deserve to drink those foul, disgusting, potentially dangerous, weird bugs infested _nutrient_ drinks?! His senpai only pushed them on them for his own amusement. Kaidoh highly doubted they would help.

" – but I think we'll beat them. I mean we _are_ the legendary ace tennis players that won even the Nationals."

Kaidoh broke out of his thoughts and raised an eyebrow at Momoshiro. "Getting cocky, are we?"

Momoshiro smirked at him. "I deserved to." Kaidoh smirked back. "We'll see about that when our senpais beat the crap out of you for saying that."

Momoshiro huffed. "I'd like to see them try. Besides, I have you to back me up."

Kaidoh snorted. "No thanks." They pushed open the doors and Kaidoh squinted, eyes adjusting to the sunlight.

"Some best friend you are," muttered Momoshiro under his breath. Kaidoh only smirked.

"Anyway, I can't wait for the inter-school tournament to begin. After we get back on the team, it'll be like the good old days, with Tezuka leading us again." And there's his stupid cheerful mood again.

Kaidoh rubbed his nose. He couldn't deny that it would be awesome for the whole team to be whole again. Kaidoh really missed playing doubles with Inui.

He could remember, after the third years graduated, Tezuka had appointed him as their new captain. Momoshiro was whining, of course, but was prominently shut upped when Tezuka said he lacked the self-disciple and leadership skills to lead Seigaku to the Nationals again. And he was right, for Kaidoh had lead Seigaku to the Nationals. They didn't win, but they got fairly close, losing to Rikkaidai in the semi-finals.

Maybe leading Seigaku to the Nationals was an added bonus to his instant popularity. Apparently tennis was a major sport here, along with baseball and basketball.

They stopped walking and Momoshiro nudged Kaidoh in the ribs. Kaidoh batted his arm away and glared at him. "What?" Kaidoh asked irritably.

"Oi, it's Inui-senpai," Momoshiro said, pointing to someone crouching a few feet a head of them.

They were silent for a few seconds, observing the figure ahead of them. Then suddenly something dawned upon both of them.

Momoshiro opened his mouth. "You don't think…" They both looked at each other with dread and slowly started backing off.

They were able to turn and run for it, if not for someone calling their names.

"Momoshiro…Kaidoh?" The two boys froze in their tracks and painfully slowly, turned around.

They spotted Inui ahead of them, glasses glinting and waving to them. Sighing loudly, they put up a forced smile and walked up to Inui.

As they got closer, Kaidoh's forced smile slowly started to fall from his face. He noticed that Inui replaced his (hideous) opaque glasses with a nice and stylish frame, showing off his stunning green eyes to the world.

That would explain the two girls he overheard yesterday talking about how 'handsome' and 'dreamy' Inui was. At first when Kaidoh heard that, he had a 'what-the-fuck' look on his face. The word 'Inui' just didn't fit with handsome and dreamy, numbers maybe, but not dreamy. Now Kaidoh wasn't thinking his senpai was ugly or anything. He just thought of Inui as average. Who knew he had such hidden beauty underneath? Kaidoh felt a blush rising but willed it away. The last thing he needed was to be acting like a school girl around his senpai.

"Hello Inui-senpai," they chorused. Inui greeted them and flashed him a brilliant smile. "And how are you guys?"

As Momoshiro starting talking, Kaidoh took this time to observe his senpai. Now that he was up close and person, he could definitely agree with those girls. His senpai really did look handsome. Must've been the work of puberty. NOT that Kaidoh was checking him out or anything, because he definitely wasn't gay. He was 100 percent straight. He was just…observing.

Kaidoh couldn't believe how much Inui had changed his image. It wasn't like he didn't see him a bit in the year that they were apart. It was nothing like that. They met up once a week to train together and sometimes work on their doubles game as Inui waited for Kaidoh and Momoshiro to catch up to them in high school. They hung out numerous times over the summer too, watching movies, tennis games, going out to eat, things friends do.

But then there was that one month before summer vacation ended. His senpai had told Kaidoh that he was off on some vacation/business trip with his parents to the U.S. and would return a few days before school would start. So this is the first time Kaidoh has seen Inui in about a month. Maybe a month and a half, he wasn't sure.

Besides the glasses, Inui's hair was a bit longer too. It had grown out twice the length it was in middle school, but it was still spiky, in a sexy way. And then there was Inui's body. Kaidoh figured Inui had worked out a bit in the U.S. because he did not have that kind of body when he left Japan.

Inui was wearing the Regular's uniform, which fit almost snuggly to his body, showing off his nice, strong looking arms. And there were his legs too. Damn, muscles were appearing everywhere. He didn't look like the lanky boy he did in junior high but he also didn't look like those huge body builders with muscles popping out of everywhere. If Kaidoh had to decide, Inui's body was more subtle with his muscles. It was there, just not obvious. In short, it was a body worth drooling for.

Not that Kaidoh would be drooling over it, because he was a boy and boys don't drool over other boys' bodies.

Suddenly, Kaidoh was slightly tempted to run his hands over Inui's body –

Wait…that's inappropriate. He wasn't gay. He wasn't gay. He wasn't gay. He couldn't be! Mentally slapping himself, he shook his head to get rid of all the inappropriate thoughts. Damn puberty.

His two companions looked at him quizzically. Kaidoh looked up and realized that he must've looked really silly. Inui shot him a gentle smile before ruffling his hair.

Kaidoh cocked his head to the side curiously as Inui slowly ran his hand down his face before quickly retracting it.

There was an awkward silence between the three as Inui watched Kaidoh; Momoshiro watched both of them and Kaidoh avoided looking at everyone. Then his eyes caught sight of a tiny jar sitting next to Inui's foot.

"What's that?" Kaidoh asked, pointing to the jar. Both Momoshiro and Inui looked down. Inui grinned and looked back up at his two kouhai.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked slyly.

The two stood there as they felt a sense of dread creep into their bodies. Glancing at each other, they both silently agreed. "NO!" They shouted and split, running around Inui to the courts behind him.

"And we don't want whatever those things are going in either!" Momoshiro shouted over his shoulder.

Inui chuckled a bit before picking up the jar and smoothly putting it into his shorts' pockets.

* * *

**FAQs:**

**Why are you rewriting Upside Down?  
**Because there are some things I've decided to include into the story that would make a better understanding of the sequel. Yes people, there WILL be a sequel. This version will be very different from the original, but I will try to tie in some stuff from the old one into this new one too. Also, I must admit it. I was just losing interest and I really though the original was crap. Hopefully this one will be better.

**Are your other OCs going to appear in this one too?**  
Of course. They won't have as big as a part as the original and they're most likely going to be supporting characters. This version is most likely going to center around the regulars the most. Especially Kaidoh, Momoshiro, and Inui, of course.

**What's the timeframe of the whole story?**  
It'll be set in Kaidoh's high school years.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Two_  
二 _

* * *

After changing, Kaidoh and Momoshiro headed out towards the courts together, with rackets in hand.

Upon reaching the gate entrance, they marveled at vastness of the courts. There must've been at least 10 courts. Way more than what they were used to. Looking around, they saw people stretching, rallying and some were just talking in groups. Kaidoh's eyes wandered to the people rallying on the courts and smirked. High school level tennis wasn't _that _high. Maybe the Regulars position wasn't going to be that much a challenge as he thought.

"Oi, Mamushi, let's go," shouted Momoshiro. Kaidoh growled in annoyance as Momoshiro slung an arm around Kaidoh's neck, urging him to move. They walked past a group of third years, from the look of their uniforms, who were talking in hushed tones and pointing to them. Kaidoh ignored them.

"This is going to be easy. Since Tezuka-buchou is captain once again, we'll make the team easily," Momoshiro said.

"Kaidoh-san! Momo-chan! Over here." The two looked behind them and spotted four of their classmates. There was one guy waving his hand in the air and Kaidoh figured he was the one who called their names. Was it Sei? Or was it Kawasaki? Maybe his name was Gen…

Kaidoh inwardly sighed. He was starting to pick up some of Echizen's habits and the effects were showing.

Kaidoh nudged Momoshiro and pushed him off of him. He started to walk but noticed his shoes were untied, so he bent down to retie them. Kaidoh was vaguely thinking about how worn out his shoes were. Maybe he'd go get some new ones some time this week.

As he was tying up his other shoe, a shadow cast upon him. Looking up, Kaidoh noticed it was the same third years he saw when they were walking in.

"Look at what we've got boys, _more_ from the famous Seigaku junior high team."

"I don't understand why everyone keeps praising them. They aren't _that_ great," one guy said.

"A bunch of cocky bastards if you asked me," another remarked. Kaidoh mentally growled. These guys were asking for it.

Momoshiro was silent as Kaidoh got back up, brushing dirt off his knees. Ignoring them, they tried to walk around them, but one guy blocked their way. Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at him.

"Don't ignore us when we're talking to you, freshmen," the guy with blue hair spat out.

Suddenly the courts became silent as everyone stopped whatever they were doing to watch the scene.

Kaidoh ignored them and tried to move around them again. They just kept blocking each of his attempts. Kaidoh clenched his fist after the fourth time they blocked his way. He was just itching to punch the guy in front of him.

Momoshiro could feel the irritation coming from the bandana-clad boy in front of him. He placed a hand on Kaidoh's shoulder as a comforting gesture. "Calm down, we don't want to get in trouble. You know how Tezuka-buchou gets…" he muttered into Kaidoh's ear. That calmed Kaidoh down enough for him to think clearly. Unclenching his fist, he turned around.

"Not so fast. We're not done yet, freshmen."

Kaidoh gasped out in pain as one of them held onto his shoulder in a death grip. He turned around and pushed the guy's arm off of him.

The guy that had grabbed Kaidoh, who had silver hair, studied them for a bit then chuckled. "These two look weak. I bet you we could beat them in less than 5 minutes."

"I'd like to see you try," Kaidoh retorted.

The guy with jet black hair flared up. "Bastard, watch what you're saying." Fists raised, he made to move towards Kaidoh but the guy with blue hair stopped him. Obviously he was the leader of the group.

The guy that grabbed Kaidoh rolled his eyes and stepped up in front of their leader. Harshly, he shoved Kaidoh in the shoulder. "Rule number one – Respect your elders, freshmen."

Kaidoh hissed and made to charge at him, but Momoshiro held him back. "Calm down!" He growled.

"Don't think you'll get on the team easily just because you have _connections_."

The blue-haired guy stepped up to Kaidoh's face. "Rule number two, and don't forget – freshmens don't play in their first year."

Kaidoh's face grew red with rage. Thrashing in Momoshiro's hold he blindly threw punches into the air. The guy ducked back and laughed along with his other friends.

Momoshiro winced as one of Kaidoh's elbows was jabbed into his side. "Oh just you wait. We'll be on the team for sure, but not because of connections – " Momoshiro smirked, " – But because we kicked your sorry asses!"

They stopped laughing and narrowed their eyes on Momoshiro and Kaidoh. The guy with blue hair lost his temper and started towards them with his fists raised. "Why you – "

Momoshiro's grip slackened and Kaidoh broke free in time to stop the other guy's punch in his open palm. Kaidoh brushed it aside and made to throw a punch at him. His senpai ducked and came from below and grabbed a fistful of Kaidoh's front as Kaidoh grabbed a fistful of his shirt too. Irritated, Kaidoh brought his face within inches of the other guys' so that only he could hear what he was about to say.

"Watch what you're saying. Senpai or not, I _will_ knock you out if necessary," Kaidoh hissed.

* * *

"Ne, ne, first day and we're getting in trouble already?"

Momoshiro turned around at the sound of a feminine voice. "F-Fuji-senpai!"

There in front of him stood Fuji Syusuke, the ever-smiling, petit genius. He smiled at Momoshiro and cocked his head a bit to look past him to the two boys still locked in a staring contest.

His smile was still in place but Momoshiro could feel some sort of chill emitting from his senpai. "I advise you to let go of Kaidoh, Mimasaki-senpai." _If you know what's good for you._ The unspoken threat spoke volumes throughout the silent courts.

Mimasaki tsked and roughly let go of Kaidoh and vice versa. He motioned towards his friends and they walked past the trio, not before purposely bumping into both Momoshiro and Kaidoh's shoulders.

Rubbing his shoulder, Momoshiro realized just how silent the courts became. Looking around, he noticed they had attracted everyone's attention.

Fuji sensed his uneasiness and turned around, giving everyone a smile. They quickly scurried back to what they were doing, for fear of receiving the wrath of the genius.

Returning his attention of his two kouhais, Fuji smiled, "Long time no see, Kaidoh, Momoshiro."

"Ah…" the two kouhais replied. Kaidoh rubbed his shoulder a bit and kept his gaze to his right.

"Don't worry about them, I'll be sure to tell Tezuka about this little incident," Fuji said before returning back into the building behind them.

As Fuji was walking away, the two stood there dreading their punishments. Imagining an angry Tezuka and a sadistic Fuji, they shuddered. Nothing good was going to come from this. They simultaneously sighed and feel into a gray depression.

"Ano…Kaidoh-san? Momo-chan?"

They broke out of their depression and looked up. The one that had called them over earlier was standing in front of a couple of other fellow freshmen. He was standing in front of them with one hand behind his head and smiling nervously.

AND KAIDOH STILL COULDN'T REMEMBER THE GUYS' NAME!

"Lee-kun! I didn't know you played tennis." But apparently Momoshiro remembered.

Kaidoh sweat dropped. He remembered now. Lee Hiroki was his name. The guy was sort of…unique? His appearance was completely different from typical Japanese teens. But Kaidoh guessed it was the Chinese blood in him. He remembered him saying something about being half Japanese and half Chinese when they went through the introductions on the first day of school. Kaidoh hated it. Him and Momoshiro had gotten the most applaud and recognition from their classmates. And Kaidoh had only said the same as everyone else – his name, his previous school, and one of his hobbies.

Kaidoh sighed. High school was so troublesome.

Gathering his thoughts, he refocused on Lee Hiroki. Lee had short black spiky hair but his bangs were longer and were dyed a golden color and gelled back. His skin has a nice tan from tennis, just like Momoshiro and Kaidoh did. He was shorter than Kaidoh and Momoshiro and his build wasn't like Inui-senpai but Kaidoh figured he wasn't all that bad.

Lee turned towards Kaidoh and smiled at him. Kaidoh wondered what kind of tennis he played.

"Ne, if you're looking to get revenge on him, let me know. I'll hook you up," said Lee, grinning. Kaidoh stared quizzically at him while his friends sighed behind him.

Lee turned around. "What?" he exclaimed.

One of them shook their head tiredly but his eyes held some sort of amusement when they looked at Kaidoh. "Don't listen to this guy. He'll get you in trouble– "

"If I get caught!" Lee injected. The guy chuckled and waved him off. "Yeah, yeah."

"Don't 'yeah, yeah' me, Yamazaki! My plans are flawless!" declared Lee.

"And we all know how 'flawless' the last one was when you were sent to the dean," another one said.

"Hey! That was a miscalculation!" he defended.

Smirking, Yamazaki placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, a few more of those 'miscalculations' and you'll be thrown out of school."

Everyone laughed as Lee huffed and crossed his arms, muttering obscenities under his breath. Even Kaidoh cracked a smile. This was going to be interesting

* * *

Kaidoh let out a hiss as he flopped down on the grass next to his senpai. Digging through his bag, he took out his towel and water bottle. After wiping his sweat, he let it rest around his shoulders and took a swig from his water.

"I heard about your, ah, _encounter_ with Morimoto-san," Inui stated, without look up from his notebook.

Kaidoh lowered his water bottle and gave Inui a bemused look. "Who?"

Inui scribbled something into his notebook before snapping it shut. Turning away from Kaidoh, Inui dug into his bag and turned back to Kaidoh with another notebook. Flipping through the book, he came to the page he was looking for and read out loud to Kaidoh, "Morimoto Kyoya. Third year. 17 years old. Grey eyes. Blue hair. 180 cm. Blood type B. Baseline player. Favorite subject is Japanese History and is involved in gangster activities. Has two brothers – Morimoto Kei, 22 years old, a college drop out, and Morimoto Shinji, 13 years old, attends Hyotei Junior High, and involved in the basketball club."

Inui snapped his notebook shut and glanced up at Kaidoh. Pushing up his glasses, he chuckled a bit. "Too much information?"

Kaidoh was gapping at Inui and nodded dumbly. Way too much information.

Snapping out of his trance he shot Inui an irritated look and pinch his nose. "Geez senpai, I didn't ask for his biography."

Inui smiled. "I'll try to remember that next time." Kaidoh nodded and took another sip from his water. The two of them sat in comfortable silence as they watch the sun set over the bridge.

After a few moments, Kaidoh heard Inui shifting around. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Inui place his notebook, pen, and towel back into his bag and leaned back on his arms. After that, the two teens remained still and silently enjoying the sunset.

* * *

"Stay away from Morimoto," Inui said, breaking the silence around them.

Kaidoh turned his head to Inui and cracked an eye open. The two teens were currently lying on their backs and doing some stargazing as darkness fell.

After the sunset, Kaidoh felt lazy and decided to lounge around for a little while longer. No, the world isn't going to explode. Kaidoh Kaoru _does_ get lazy once in a while.

Inui was startled when Kaidoh confessed that he was feeling lazy and was prompted to write the new data in his notebook. Kaidoh scowled and ignored the furious scratching of the pen his senpai was making and instead, focused on the stars and moon appearing in the night sky.

"Why?" Kaidoh replied before closing his eye again.

Inui silently sat back up, bringing his knees to his chest. "He's dangerous, Kaidoh. Stay away from him."

Kaidoh snorted. "Dangerous? _Please_."

Inui regarded Kaidoh with a serious look. One Kaidoh failed to notice since he had his eyes closed. "I'm serious, Kaidoh. You don't know what he's capable of," said Inui warningly.

Kaidoh sighed and cracked an eye open. Noticing the serious look on his senpai's face he opened both eyes and sat up, crossing his legs.

"I can take care of myself, senpai," said Kaidoh warily.

Inui gave him a disbelieving look. "As much as I'd like to believe, I doubt you can. Morimoto is a _dangerous_ guy and he has connections with _dangerous_ people," Inui said frustratingly.

Kaidoh sighed. He knew his senpai was looking out for him but wasn't he exaggerating? This guy, Morimoto, or whatever, can't be as dangerous as he says.

Yawning, Kaidoh stretched himself and shivered as he felt his shirt ride up and the cold night air brushing his skin. Adjusting his shirt, he got up and brushed off the bits of dirt and grass on him. Looking down to pick up his bag, he noticed that his senpai looked sort of flushed. Concerned, he reached over and placed his hand over Inui's forehead.

Kaidoh felt Inui stiffen under his touch but ignored it. Instead, he frowned as he felt his senpai's warm skin. "Senpai, you should put on a jacket and get home soon. I think you might be coming down with a fever," said Kaidoh as he withdrew his hand away from Inui. Turning his back on Inui, Kaidoh heard a tiny groan coming from the older teen. Thinking his senpai was whining, he ignored it and picked up his bag, waiting for Inui to get up too.

But Inui didn't get up. Instead he grabbed Kaidoh's wrist to get his attention. Curious, Kaidoh looked down at Inui.

"Promise me you'll be careful."

It took a while for Kaidoh to register what Inui meant. Heaving a sigh, he gave into his senpai's plead.

Offering him a tiny smile, Kaidoh nodded. "I promise."

* * *

**FAQs**

**What's up with Morimoto? And is Inui exaggerating or is he really dangerous?  
**Well, you guys will find out in later chapters. But the little infomation/data Inui had on him should give you a clue as to if he's really exaggerating or not.

**Will Hiroi and Miyazaki be in this too?  
**Yes. But they won't have as big as a part as in the original.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Three  
**_**三**  
_

* * *

Everyone gathered around as Tezuka called them forward. Kaidoh and Momoshiro stood together with their fellow classmates at the back of the crowds. Inui, along with the rest of the Regulars, stood in front in their Regular's jacket. 

Tezuka cleared his throat and the sound died down.

"In two weeks, we will be holding the interschool tournament, as you know, for the Regulars' position to participate in the Prefectures competition," said Tezuka, voice booming over the courts.

Pausing a bit for the muttering to stop, Tezuka continued. "So from now till then, Regulars will be observing the freshmens closely so please work hard."

"Hai!" chanted all the freshmens. Tezuka nodded and then directed his attention to everyone else.

"Second years and third years must work equally as hard too."

"Hai!"

Tezuka grunted in satisfaction and dismissed them.

Kaidoh walked in with the rest of the freshmens, only half listening to their conversation about the interschool tournament. This was the moment he was waiting for since he first joined the tennis club. Even though the level of high school tennis slightly disappointed him, he knew he would still have to put an effort into securing a spot on the Regulars team.

If he got the chance.

Kaidoh was pretty sure he'd have spot considering how the team is bigger than back in junior high where there were only eight positions – three singles, two doubles, and a substitute. Here, there were four singles, three doubles, and of course a substitute, adding up to eleven open positions.

Kaidoh stripped down and starting on his shower, he pondered more about the possible _open_ spots. First off, singles one and two were solely Tezuka and Fuji. Inui currently held singles three but played doubles now and then. Kikumaru and Oishi, the Golden Pair, of course, held doubles 1. That meant there was singles four, doubles two, and doubles three free for the taking. Those who held those spots are senpais Kaidoh has been observing the past week. Kimura-senpai is a third year and currently held singles four. That's a possibility.

Getting out, he dodged the idiots horsing around and dried himself. Heading towards his cubby hole, he quickly got dressed. _Singles_…it was never a problem in his third year, where Echizen, Momoshiro, and he held the top three singles. He held no grudges against singles either in second year, even with all the exceptionally talented singles player they had. It had made the spot all the more worthwhile. The adrenaline, the thrill, the _challenge_, Kaidoh loved it.

Kaidoh retied his tie, adjusting it back in place. Slipping on his blazer, he started absent mindedly buttoning it up.

But then he got used to playing doubles. More specifically, playing doubles _with_ Inui. Kaidoh had _tried _to play doubles once his senpais were gone but it just didn't work. Their teamwork sucked, their coordination was off, and altogether, they had no trust in each other. It was a complete disaster so Kaidoh went back to playing singles. But deep down, that wasn't the reason why. If their teamwork sucked, they could've worked on it. If their coordination was off, they could've kept practicing till they perfected it. If they didn't trust each other, well, all they had to do was hang out, get to know each other better.

But Kaidoh couldn't do that. It was hard enough playing doubles without Inui. He just _couldn't_ stand the thought of playing doubles with his Inui's _replacement_. Kaidoh hated that word and he hated himself for trying. He felt guilty. As if he could just replace his senpai like that.

So with that, he immediately confronted his teammate. Sure his partner or _ex_-partner was upset but there was nothing he could do about it. Feeling even guiltier for his betrayal to both Inui and his short-term partner, Kaidoh spend the next couple days observing the tennis club and found his ex-partner another partner. They worked out instantly and were able to play exceptionally. They didn't have the natural click as the Golden Pair did, and they certainly didn't work as well as Inui and him did, but they balanced each other's skills out. Even more so, they both had potential and the will to improve. Kaidoh admitted he was proud of them when they won their first doubles match. He comforted himself that he had done the right thing, which eased some of the guilt he had before.

"Kaidoh you missed a button."

Kaidoh blinked a couple of times and looked up at the person who had alerted him. Realizing who it was, Kaidoh blushed and let out a low hissed. He turned around a bit away from his senpai to quickly fix his buttons. Who buttoned these wrong anyways?! There were _only_ three buttons for God's sake! Inui grinned as he watched his kouhai struggling with his blazer.

Finally getting the buttons correctly, Kaidoh sat down and started tying his shoes, slowly.

Life was pretty good as a third year and captain of the tennis was awesome. He liked being called buchou. Not that he'll ever admit it out loud. Momoshiro would probably laugh his ass off at his confession.

But that wasn't the point.

During one of the rare occasions where Inui-senpai would join him in training, other than providing an up-to-date training menu, he brought up something interesting. He invited Kaidoh to his upcoming tournament against Hyotei Senior High. Kaidoh was shocked. He knew that his senpai was still on the team and that they had their own tournaments. He just never _knew_ when and where they were. Besides, the other times when he did, they collided with his own games, so he wasn't able to make it. This time it was going to be at Hino Gardens and lucky Kaidoh didn't have a game that day, so he gladly accepted.

On Sunday, Kaidoh had ended up sleeping in, after a tiring day of training. By the time he arrived, He noticed they were about to start doubles two. Kaidoh quickly took a seat in the middle and scanned the players up front, looking for his senpai. Furrowing his brows, Kaidoh realized his senpai wasn't even _there_. Maybe he had gone to get a drink, or use the bathroom, or was simply late. Kaidoh kept scanning the crowds around him, hoping to catch a glance of his senpai. When the referee had announced the names of the players, Kaidoh's head snapped to the front and he froze. He wasn't sure if he heard right but then he spotted his senpai down on the courts.

With his doubles partner.

Kaidoh felt a slight pang in his chest. Even if Kaidoh refused to replace his senpai, his senpai had replaced _him_. That would probably explain the lack of company Kaidoh had when he was training. Kaidoh couldn't believe it. He felt so betrayed. But then his inner voice started reasoning with him. It wasn't like they had made a commitment to each other as the Golden Pair had. It didn't concern him. It _shouldn't_ concern him. It didn't matter if Inui had another partner.

But it didn't stop him from watching the match in mild annoyance.

After the match, Kaidoh promptly left after congratulating Inui on his win. Inui had introduced him to his partner but Kaidoh, who was already in a foul mood, didn't think his name was worth remembering.

Inui seem disappointed at Kaidoh's sudden leave, but thanked him for coming nonetheless.

After cooling down, Kaidoh hated himself for acting like that. He ended up avoiding Inui as best as he could. He trained somewhere else, and took a different path home everyday, just in case. And when he did run into Inui, they would chat for a bit and Inui would try to get Kaidoh to come to his games. He would always make up some excuse like he had homework, or a game, or training with the team, or simply helping out his mom or brother, just to avoid going to Inui's games. More than half was true so technically he wasn't lying, but it didn't stop his guilt from eating him from the inside out. Inui was really disappointed but he said that all of those were important and that he shouldn't let him from ruining Kaidoh's schedule and that there was always next time. Kaidoh felt even worst about himself when they parted.

About a month later, Kaidoh had a suspicion that Inui realized he was avoiding him because all of a sudden, Inui was everywhere. Inui never voiced it, but Kaidoh had a vibe that he _knew._ Kaidoh felt like a prey being hunted from then on. Inui kept pestering him about going out with him. If it wasn't to the movies, then it was to eat. If Kaidoh shot down one request, Inui would ask another. He kept badgering Kaidoh that he eventually had to give in to shut the older teen up.

By the time spring was rolling in, the two of them were back on comfortable grounds. But Kaidoh still refused to go to Inui's games. Inui had, on numerous occasions, tried to wheedle the information out of him. He even read off a list of suspicions he had. Inui was far and wide from his reason, and he intended to keep it that way.

Kaidoh felt a pang of betrayal every time he thought of it. He tried not to think about it as much as he could but now that they were on the same team once again, it had to take that into consideration. Inui already has a doubles partner. So where does that leave him…?

Finished with his shoes, Kaidoh stood up and grabbed his bag. At the same time, he heard three consecutive sneezes behind him followed by a couple of coughs. Turning around, Kaidoh saw Inui barring a red nose Rudolph would be proud of, and slightly red, watery eyes behind his glasses. At times like these, Kaidoh was thankful that he was able to see his senpai's eyes. At least he had a slight idea of what he was thinking. As they say, the eyes are the window to the soul. Walking up to him, Kaidoh voiced his concerns.

"Inui-senpai, are you – " Another sneeze. Kaidoh sighed and looked at Inui. Securing the strap on his bag, he hoisted up Inui's bag on his shoulder too and dragged Inui by the hand, out of the clubhouse.

"K-Kaidoh! What are you doing? Here, I can carry my own bag – " Inui sneezed again.

Hissing, Kaidoh shook his head. "No, you can't," he said firmly.

"I'm fine," said Inui tiredly.

"You're sick," Kaidoh stated flatly.

"No, I'm not. It's allergies, Kaidoh," Inui protested.

Adjusting the bag higher, Kaidoh stopped and looked slightly behind him, cocking an eyebrow. "Since when did you get allergies, Senpai?"

"Since now!" replied Inui childishly.

"And since when did allergies include coughing?"

Inui opened his mouth then closed it again. He grunted and looked at Kaidoh irritably.

Kaidoh gave Inui a smug smile and turned around. Giving Inui's hand a tug, they started walking again.

Kaidoh thought his senpai's illness was getting to his head because he stayed quiet for the rest of the way to the west gates. Kaidoh inwardly thanked the Gods that his senpai had stopped his childish protests. Allergies? Kaidoh snorted, yeah right. He had known his senpai for three years and never, has he ever seen his senpai with allergies. Never. Besides, he would've been able to believe the lie had his senpai not been coughing too. Kaidoh beamed at himself for his discovery.

So there was only one explanation for his sneezing, watery eyes and coughing and it was probably because he was sick. Probably got it from some weird juice he made with the bug he saw him dig up a couple weeks again. Kaidoh shivered at the thought.

Kaidoh stopped walking as he realized that Inui was really quiet. Too quiet. Turning around, he let go of the hand he was holding and observed Inui. Kaidoh's eyebrows furrowed as he realized his senpai probably had a fever. Inui's face was completely red and was warm too, when he touched his forehead, at which Inui flinched.

Kaidoh noticed the flinch but ignored it. Measuring his own temperature, he realized his senpai was burning and quickly dragged Inui home

* * *

Kaidoh couldn't believe his senpai had nothing to eat. Besides the lifetime supply of ramen, his senpai possessed nothing to prepare an appropriate meal. 

Sighing, he closed the refrigerator and took out his cell phone to order take out

* * *

Kaidoh dragged himself into the clubhouse and flopped down on to the locker room bench, while everyone groaned and headed towards the shower. Tezuka had gotten angry during practice today because the third years were rough housing around and some were even teasing some of the freshmens. Terrified of their senpais, they didn't retaliate. Kaidoh, fed up with the treatment his fellow freshmens were receiving from the older teens, purposely hit a snake shot that hit one of his senpais squarely on the forehead. 

That of course, that gotten him angry. When he found out it was Kaidoh who had hit him, he stomped over to him and started getting all up in his face. Kaidoh, of course, _had_ hit it, but wasn't going to admit it to his senpai. Calmly, and with a straight face he told his senpai that he should back off his friends. That had only angered the third year even more. Shouting obscenities, he grabbed Kaidoh's shirt and pulled him off the ground a bit. Kaidoh grabbed his shirt in returned and retorted with a few well-chosen words of his own. Kaidoh couldn't help but add oil to the fire.

Lately, he's been acting very much like a rebel, picking a fight with many ill-tempered third years. Technically, he wasn't _picking_ a fight. More like others were picking a fight with _him_. Okay, so he _could_ keep his mouth shut half the time but hey, the thrill of seeing them get so riled up was too fun to stop. Fuji-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai thought it was amusing and declared his confrontations their daily entertainment.

No, it didn't happen _every_ day, it was more like every _other_ day. Kaidoh smirked and that only pissed his senpai off even more.

One of the third year's friends tried to tell Kaidoh off, but Momoshiro was immediately at his side and the two were in a heated glare.

They were about to break out into a fight when Tezuka had shouted at them. Fuji and Kikumaru groaned in the background somewhere and started to disperse the crowd. Having fed up with the constant bickering between the classes, Tezuka order everyone to run 50 laps and the last one had to drink one of Inui's juices.

With all the running he's been doing the past week, he swore his legs were going to break off from running too much.

Sighing, he quickly took a shower and changed. He waited outside the clubhouse for Momoshiro. Kaidoh let out a hiss when he remembered how Momoshiro got him to agree to let him come.

They were having lunch and Kaidoh was just about to start on his food when Momoshiro comes barging back into the classroom, food overloading his arms, claiming he wanted to visit Inui-senpai with him.

Kaidoh had flat out said no. Momoshiro then started whining about how horrible Kaidoh treated him and their friendship. Then he tried to get him to agree with all the best friend crap. Kaidoh had eventually given in. Not because he of the best friend crap Momoshiro seems to believe, but it was only to shut him up. Kaidoh had also gotten him to promise to not be a loud and obnoxious idiot when they got there because Inui was sick.

Momoshiro cheered loudly for his victory and proceeded to dive into some topic about girls.

Kaidoh ignored him the rest of the day.

* * *

Kaidoh shot Momoshiro an irritated looked as he sheepishly came out. Carrying Inui's assignments from the day, thanks to Oishi, Kaidoh started walking towards the west gate. 

Somehow, they had gotten into some sort of argument two minutes into their journey and then the next minute, they both had dropped their bags and he had Momoshiro in a head lock.

Momoshiro was flailing and then wrapped his arms around Kaidoh's waist, turning to drop him. They were so caught up in their moment that they didn't realize the approaching footsteps.

"Like father, like son, ah?"

Both Kaidoh and Momoshiro stopped their antics and looked at the guy in front of them. Kaidoh's eyes widened and he froze. Unconsciously, his grip on Momoshiro slacked and he wiggled out. Momoshiro gazed curiously at Kaidoh, who stood rigid and wide eyed. "S-Shota-kun…" Momoshiro heard the tiny mumble and quickly looked at the guy in front of them.

He noticed the guy had dark blue hair, cold grey eyes and had a smug expression on his face. Momoshiro figured he went to Hyotei Senior High from the look of his uniform. He narrowed his eyes at the guy.

"Long time no see, _Kaoru_-kun," he drawled. Then he shifted his attention to the confused Momoshiro, flashing him a disgusting smile. "This must be your…ah…"

Kaidoh's eyes widened even more as dread filled him. He couldn't believe this was happening.

Kaidoh started trembling and couldn't stop it. Momoshiro noticed and tried to place a hand on his shoulder. His eyes widened as he watch his best friend flinch away from his touch. He then shifted his gaze to the floor, lost in thoughts.

Momoshiro narrowed his eyes at the guy in front of them. Shota was it? It had something to do with him, because Kaidoh never acting like this with anyone before. And the way the guy was talking to him was creepy. Like he knew something…

The blue haired boy widened his grin as his gaze went from Kaidoh to Momoshiro. "Oh _Kaoru_-kun! You haven't told him?"

"Tell me what?" asked Momoshiro, bewildered.

Kaidoh's head snapped up, staring at Shota in horror. "Don't…" he muttered.

His grin only widened wider, and his eyes twinkled with glee. Then he turned his attention to Momoshiro and said the ten words Kaidoh never wanted to hear ever, in his life. Kaidoh snapped his eyes closed and felt his throat go dried, unable to say anything.

The kids, the adults, the whispers, the rocks, the rumors…

When he opened them, he saw Shota on the floor, wiping blood from his the corner of his mouth. He saw Momoshiro standing next to him, enraged. Then something snapped in him.

Kaidoh marched over to Shota and pulled his shirt so that they were face-to-face.

"I never want to see your face again, now fuck off!" growled Kaidoh. He threw his body roughly to the ground and watched as the boy scrambled to his feet and scurried away.

Kaidoh regained some sense, but was still in shock.

The two friends walked the rest of the way there in silence. Momoshiro didn't demand answers and Kaidoh was glad, because he really didn't want to explain it right now.

* * *

**FAQs: **

**You keep mentioning the original Upside Down story. Do I need to read it to understand this one?  
**No you don't. I was only mentioning it for comparison for those who have read it. It's okay if you didn't because this story has nothing to do with it whatsoever.

**Is there going to be other pairings?  
**We'll see...


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Four_  
四 _**

* * *

When they reached Inui's house, Kaidoh took out the spare key his senpai had given him. At first, Kaidoh had refused, since it seemed really awkward to be carrying around your senpai's key but in the end, Kaidoh had given in and accepted the key. 

Besides, who else was going to take care of Inui? Kaidoh swore Inui's parents were never home. Speaking of which…Kaidoh has _never_ even seen his senpai's parents. Kaidoh had just figured they were extremely busy with work and that they'd be home in the middle of the night and leave before the sun even rises. But after the past few days in his senpai's home, Kaidoh saw no traces of anyone else living there. It seemed as if Inui lived by himself in the big house.

One day, to test his theory, Kaidoh had purposely left an empty mug on the counter. The next day when he returned, the mug was still in the exact same spot and maybe with a little dust around it. Kaidoh thought Inui's parents were pretty irresponsible, to leave his senpai all alone in the house all the time.

Kaidoh and Momoshiro placed their bags in the living room and proceeded upstairs towards Inui's room.

Kaidoh knocked on the closed door and when he heard a slight grunt, he gently opened the door. Letting himself and Momoshiro in, Kaidoh found Inui sitting in front of his computer, in his green pajamas with yellow baby duckies, typing away. Kaidoh rolled his eyes when he heard Momoshiro stifling his laughter behind him. Kaidoh deduced the cause of laughter was his senpai's choice of sleepwear. Really, who would expect Inui, data man of Seigaku to wear yellow baby _duckies_ pajamas?!

"Senpai, did you eat yet?" asked Kaidoh.

"Yes," Inui mumbled. And then when he paused his typing, his stomach growled.

Inui blushed a bit as Kaidoh cocked an eyebrow expectantly and Momoshiro burst out laughing. Saving his work, he turned in his chair to face Kaidoh, grinning nervously. Inui had lied to him…_again_.

Kaidoh growled in annoyance as Momoshiro used him for support. The idiot was laughing his stupid head off and was using _him_ as his support beam. He let out a hiss as Momoshiro started to calm down.

Kaidoh sighed and watch Inui direct his attention Momoshiro. He thought he saw something flash in his senpai's green eyes before he shielded them by pushing up his glasses and catching the sunlight. "Thanks for coming Momoshiro," said Inui politely.

Trying to gather his breath Momoshiro nodded and gave Inui a little wave. "It's not a problem…besides, Echizen sends his regards, and a gift to you."

At that time, Kaidoh thought it was wise to get some food into his senpai's stomach as they heard another loud protest from Inui's stomach. That triggered Momoshiro to dive into another round of loud giggles.

"I'll go reheat some food for you, Senpai," said Kaidoh as he walked across the room.

"Ah, thank you, Kaidoh," said Inui sheepishly.

Shoving past Momoshiro, Kaidoh padded downstairs towards the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, Kaidoh swore under his breath.

There was a new weird colored drink sitting next to a beaker with grey, bubbling liquid. Apparently, being sick wasn't going to stop his senpai from concocting another one of his Inui juices.

Getting rid of his thoughts, Kaidoh took out some soup and stir-fry chicken from last night's dinner. He poured some soup into a pot and placed it on the stove to heat it up. He then opened one of the cupboards and took out a bowl and a plate. Going back into the refrigerator, he took out some rice and heated it up in the microwave.

Sometime while he was in the kitchen, Kaidoh heard someone run down the stairs, then a moment later, ran back up. Kaidoh figured it was Momoshiro.

When all the food was heated up, Kaidoh placed the items on a tray. Filling up a cup of water, he placed it on the tray along with the rice, soup, and chicken, he brought it up to Inui's room.

Walking in, he saw both Momoshiro and Inui sitting in front of the TV at the corner of Inui's room. Kaidoh placed the food on Inui's desk and took a quick glance at screen. His jaw dropped when he saw Echizen on the screen. He was playing a match against someone from Rikkaidai, from the look of the uniform.

Inui's nose twitched and he turned around to find Kaidoh with his food. Inui shot Kaidoh a grateful look before digging into his food. Kaidoh watched in amusement as Inui quickly shoved a spoonful of rice into his mouth and then chocking. Chuckling, Kaidoh patted his back as he gulped down some water.

Breathing normally again, Inui pulled Kaidoh down to sit next to him on his couch as he returned his attention to the screen.

The three teens spent the afternoon watching the match in silence. Besides the occasional scratching from Inui's pen, they watched the match in silence awe. Echizen of course has grown, thus eliminating the height disadvantage he had and his play style was slowly evolving from his father's style to his own. But of course, he was taunting his opponent, even when he was slightly behind. Cocky, as ever.

Two hours later, it was Echizen's match point. Kaidoh watched as his figure sagged with exhaustion and sweat was running down his face but he had that stupid look, as if he won already.

The next thing Kaidoh knew, Echizen pulled an amazing shot that left his opponent, as long as the three teens watching it in shock. Kaidoh widened his eyes in surprise. He wasn't able to catch exactly what the young prodigy did but it had something to do with the ball's shadow. He was sure of it.

Damn that bastard. He was able to develop some sort of illusive technique like Kikumaru.

"Woah, I better train harder, or else Echizen is going to be too far to catch up to," said Momoshiro. The two on the couch silently agreed with him.

Stretching his body, Momoshiro got up. "Inui-senpai, where's your bathroom?" he asked.

"Down the hall, second door to your right," Inui said automatically. Momoshiro nodded and walked out the room.

Kaidoh stretched and leaned back into the couch. "So is this the gift Momoshiro was talking about?" Kaidoh asked.

"Hn, that was a recording of his latest match," said Inui, looking over his notes a bit.

"Show off," mumbled Kaidoh. Inui chuckled a bit and then started coughing.

Kaidoh sat up and regarded Inui with a concerned look. "You okay?"

After patting his chest a bit, Inui nodded. "Wait here, I'll go get your medicine," said Kaidoh. He got up and walked downstairs with the dishes and then returned with a bottle of cough syrup, a spoon, and a glass of water.

Inui had moved from the couch to his bed, where he sat, waiting patiently for Kaidoh's return. Kaidoh stepped up to him and held out the medicine and water. Inui cocked his head a bit and then his eyes starting shining.

Kaidoh stood there waiting for his senpai to take his medicine. When he realized Inui wasn't going to take it, he shot him a curious look. "Senpai, your medicine."

Inui looked up at Kaidoh innocently. "Feed me!"

Kaidoh's eyes widened and he felt a blush rising. "N-no!"

Inui pouted. "But I'm sick and you're suppose to take care of me," he whined.

"You're fine! You can take it yourself," protested Kaidoh.

"No I'm not!" said Inui. Then he started a fit of coughing. "See?"

Kaidoh hissed. It wasn't like the first dew days where Inui was half dead and Kaidoh _had _to feed him. Now he had regained some of his strength, so there should be no problem. Inui just liked to be babied. Bastard…

"Kaidoh!" whined Inui.

"What?!" snapped Kaidoh.

Inui opened his mouth. "Ah!"

Kaidoh's eye twitched with irritation. His senpai was acting like such an idiot. Kaidoh blames that stupid dunk-smash idiot! Doesn't he know that his idiocy is rubbing off on others?! Damn him…Inui was lucky he was sick because as of right now, Kaidoh was itching to smack him in the head.

Growling, Kaidoh shoved the cup of water into Inui's hand and opened the cap of the cough syrup. Inui grinned triumphantly and waited for Kaidoh to feed him.

As angry as he was, Kaidoh tried to squash it down and be as gentle as he could in feeding Inui. When he was done, Inui beamed at him. As Kaidoh was about to go and put the medicine away, Inui caught his wrist and pulled him down. The two of them toppled back, with Kaidoh on top of Inui. Inui then lifted his head and placed his head near Kaidoh's ear.

"Thanks, _Kaoru-sensei_," Inui whispered huskily. Kaidoh shivered and thought that the window was opened too wide.

Furiously blushing, Kaidoh grabbed Inui's pillow and smacked him in the face with it.

"I-Inui-senpai!" stuttered Kaidoh.

He quickly pushed himself off of Inui and made to exit the room.

"Oi! I'm sick! Is that how you treat your patients?" Inui shouted after him.

Kaidoh whipped around right at the door. "STUPID INUI-SENPAI!" he shouted.

Kaidoh heard Inui chuckling as he slammed the door shut. His narrowed his eyes as he caught Momoshiro leaning against the wall next to Inui's door. Kaidoh's blush deepened as he scurried past him.

Damn that bastard. He saw and _heard_ everything! He wasn't ever going to live this down now.

Kaidoh could hear Momoshiro's stifled laughter burst as he reached the foot of the stairs. Scowling, he stuff the medicine roughly back into the cabinet.

* * *

The rest of the week, Kaidoh had to endure Momoshiro's subtle teasing and laughter. Because of this constant reminder, Kaidoh refused to go over to Inui's house anymore. Instead, Oishi and Kikumaru, and once with Fuji, went to visit Inui. Inui _had_ called Kaidoh numerous times but Kaidoh refused to answer. And then there were the text messages too. His mother wasn't going to be happy with next month's phone bill. 

Kaidoh let out a sigh as Momoshiro sat down and proceeded to tell him all about his date with some girl and about how this was the one and all that bullshit. Yumi-chan was it? He wasn't sure but it wasn't like it matter. Momoshiro's dates tended to just stay as dates, they never developed into anything more. Kaidoh had silently wondered why. It wasn't as if they didn't like him. They sure as hell liked him a lot if they kept giving him gifts and admiring him. The rate of his fan club was increasing too so it couldn't be his character. They just didn't want to be his girlfriend. Kaidoh found that odd but never questioned it. Who in their right mind would want to put themselves in the position to be constantly badgered by an idiot? Unfortunately for Kaidoh, he didn't have a choice.

By the time club activities were over, Kaidoh felt like his head was going to burst.

Inui had somehow gotten Oishi and Kikumaru to try to convince Kaidoh to come visit him. Oishi was the voice of reasoning and Kaidoh could easily handle him. Kikumaru on the other hand, was a bouncing ball of energy, and no doubt cunning, from his friendship with Fuji. He abandoned his own practice game to come and interfere with Kaidoh's. He was also loud, annoying, and distracting. Kaidoh had _barely_ won his match. And his opponent wasn't even that good either! And besides that, Kikumaru kept referring Inui to a girl. She this, she that. Soon everyone in the club thought Kaidoh was having relationship problems and even worst – they thought he was a cold-heart bastard for not forgiving his 'girlfriend'.

He was _not _having relationship problems. He did _not_ have a girlfriend. And he certainly _wasn't _dating his senpai.

Still, Kikumaru persisted and Kaidoh had to now endure the many disgusted looks he was getting.

Fuji didn't make things better when he simply asked, "Having a lover's quarrel?" That was enough to cause Kaidoh to almost trip. Glaring at Fuji he promptly denied it and refused to tell him what Inui had done to make him so angry when asked. Apparently Inui refused to let the information go too. That had only made Fuji even more curious and of course, interested. So without a word, he walked away towards Tezuka and Kikumaru continued bothering him. Kaidoh had a feeling that he should start watching his back.

Because Fuji was definitely going to be up to something.

Kaidoh let out a long sigh. This was going to be a long day…

* * *

Nearing the end of practice, Tezuka lost his patience. He called both Kaidoh and Kikumaru over and threatened both Kikumaru and Kaidoh with laps. Either he agreed to go pay Inui a visit or run a thousand laps around the courts. Kikumaru was to run with him if he chose the latter. If Kaidoh chose the former, Kikumaru would only have to run 30 laps. Either way, Kikumaru suffered. Serves him right! 

Kaidoh gave in and promised he'd go pay Inui a visit and Tezuka sent Kikumaru off on his laps. Kikumaru refused to move until Tezuka explained to him what he did wrong. All he was doing was helping a friend, was his defense. Tezuka in turn, said he abandoned his own practice, leaving Oishi without a partner, disrupted _other_ people's practice, and was being really loud, thus giving him a headache.

Then he threatened to raise the laps to 50 if Kikumaru didn't get moving.

Kikumaru promptly made a beeline for the gates and began his laps. Tezuka, after sighing, turned around and walked back to Fuji, who was standing there, smiling brightly. Kaidoh shivered as he thought of how much power Fuji held over Tezuka. Scary…

So that's how Kaidoh ended up here, standing nervously in front of Inui's door with a bag in hand. On the way there, Kaidoh had decided to stop by a well-known café that sold extremely tasty cakes. Kaidoh bought a chocolate-and-vanilla cake as a peace offering. After all, he had been avoiding his senpai for the past couple days. At least he could do was apologize properly.

Besides, who could resist cakes from Wonderful Sweets? They were soft, moist, and fluffy. And the cake designs were done by an international pastry chef champion, so they were simply beautiful and amazing. Kaidoh was drooling just thinking about it.

Shaking out of his reverie, he rang the doorbell. Kaidoh frowned as he heard voices inside. Did his senpai already have visitors? Just as he was about to turn around and leave, the door opened, revealing a stunned Inui at the door.

"K-Kaidoh?"

"I'm here," Kaidoh said flatly.

Inui nodded dumbly and opened the door for Kaidoh to enter. After taking off his shoes, he followed Inui into the living room where two pretty girls were seated. One of them stood up and started gushing about how cute Kaidoh was. He inwardly groaned.

This day just got longer

* * *

**FAQs: **

**How many chapters are there going to be?  
**As of right now, I'm not too sure but maybe around 15-20 chapters.


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Five_  
五 _**

* * *

Kaidoh sat there, cursing the world for his bad luck. Unfortunately for him, one of his fan club members just _happens_ to be Inui's classmate and friend and _she_ just oh so _happens_ to be sitting next to _him_, yapping away.

Kaidoh liked her friend a bit more. At least _she_ was quiet.

Hiroi Kaho, Kaidoh noticed was overly hyperactive. Maybe she was on drugs? Kaidoh doubted that just by her appearance. She had shiny light brown hair, neatly tied up in a ponytail and her skin was clear and tanned. Kaidoh slightly blushed as he noticed she had a really nice, curvy body.

Feeling ashamed at himself for gawking at his senpai, Kaidoh turned his attention to the other girl next to Hiroi. Her name was Miyazaki Ami. She has jet-black hair that went all the way down to her waist. Kaidoh noticed that she kept fidgeting from time to time and kept tucking her hair behind her ear, which would only fall back in place a second later. Her dark blue eyes flashed nervously as her eyes kept shifting around. She caught Kaidoh's eyes and blushed. Flashing him a tiny smile, she averted her eyes to Inui as he excused himself to answer the phone.

Kaidoh let out a tiny yawn as the two girls started talking in hushed tones. Out of the corner of his eyes, Kaidoh saw Miyazaki had a panicked look on her face. The next thing he knew, Hiroi had got up and dragged Kaidoh with her towards the front door.

"Wait, Kaho! I _can't_," whispered Miyazaki.

"Just tell him we went out to get something to eat," said Hiroi. And the two teens were out the door.

Hiroi dragged Kaidoh all the way to the sidewalk and then latched onto his arm, chattering about her friend.

Kaidoh was…surprised. First he got dragged out of his senpai's house by some crazed girl he barely knows and now he's forced to spend time with her. This was not happening.

"Um…Hiroi-senpai?" said Kaidoh hesitantly.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Kaho is fine, Kaidoh-kun."

"Right…Kaho-senpai. Um, why did you drag me out of Inui-senpai's house?" asked Kaidoh.

They had gotten to the corner Hiroi looked both ways before crossing the street.

"Because you know my friend Ami-chan? You know, that girl that was sitting next to me yeah well..." The next set of words were all a blur to him.

Kaidoh's brain whirled as he tried to comprehend what his senpai just said. She said it all so fast that all he caught was Inui, Ami, and confess, which made no sense.

Not wanting to know, Kaidoh just nodded and grunted. That made her happy because she beamed up at him. Kaidoh inwardly groaned. Could this day get any worst?

* * *

After a _very_ long hour, Hiroi and Kaidoh returned to Inui's house. When Inui opened the door, he was very distressed looking. Kaidoh thought he heard some sniffing in there and he guess Hiroi heard it too because she roughly pushed Inui aside and ran into the house. Kaidoh cocked an eyebrow at Inui but he only shook his head and went in, leaving the door open for Kaidoh. 

Curious, Kaidoh stepped in and closed the door. As he turned around, Miyazaki rushed past him, pulled the door open and ran out, crying. Unfortunately for Kaidoh, the door slammed right into his face. Looking up, he saw Hiroi shooting Inui a dirty look before chasing after Miyazaki.

Clutching his nose, Kaidoh closed his senpai's door and locked it. Then he walked over to the couches and flopped himself down, determined to find out what happened. One left crying, one left angry, and the other is standing there, looking like he's consumed in guilt, this has got to be a good one.

Inui had still yet to notice Kaidoh was sitting there, dropped himself into the nearest seat and put his head in his hands.

"Senpai," said Kaidoh softly, alerting his senpai to his presence. Inui's head jerked up and stared at Kaidoh in horror.

"K-Kaidoh…what happened?" asked Inui, rushing to his side.

Kaidoh smiled sardonically. "I was on the angry end of your door."

As realization dawned on Inui, he apologized. Then he ran around the house trying to look for the first-aid kit. When he found it, he returned to Kaidoh's side. Gently prying his hand away from his nose, Inui observed the damage. It wasn't much. All he had to do was stop the nose bleed and then covered up the tiny scratch on his nose with a bandage.

"I'm sorry, Kaidoh…" said Inui softly.

Kaidoh had his eyes closed as Inui tended to him. He was starting to blush a little as he enjoyed Inui's gentle hands.

"For what, senpai?"

Inui placed the bandage over Kaidoh's nose. "There, all done."

Kaidoh opened his eyes as Inui walked away to put the first-aid kit away. Sighing, he fingered the bandage. He had a feeling he was going to look like Kikumaru when he was a freshman back at Seigaku Junior High.

"For getting you involved in this mess," said Inui as he was coming back. Inui handed Kaidoh a Ponta and they sat in silence, drinking their drinks.

"What did you do to her?" Kaidoh asked, really curious about the situation.

Inui sighed and ran his hand through his already messy hair. "I, uh, rejected her…" mumbled Inui.

"Oh."

Kaidoh went silent and went through is thoughts. She was really pretty, so why did his senpai reject her? And the reason he got this injury was because his idiotic senpai rejected a really pretty girl.

Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Kaidoh spoke up. "Um…why?"

Inui looked at him quizzically. Kaidoh cleared his throat and blushed a bit, embarrassed. After all, this _was_ his senpai's private affairs; maybe he shouldn't be prying into it. Shaking his head, Kaidoh muttered a soft nothing.

"No, what is it Kaidoh?" insisted Inui.

Kaidoh let out a low hiss. "Um…why did you…um, reject her?" asked Kaidoh, furiously blushing. Seriously…this was none of his business. "You don't have to answer that, senpai!" Kaidoh quickly added. Great, now Inui was going to think he was nosy. Could this day get any worse?

To Kaidoh's surprise, Inui let out a small chuckle. "I rejected her because I have feelings for someone else already."

Kaidoh blinked at Inui. "Oh." Of course, why else would someone reject someone else? Duh! Coughing uncomfortably, Kaidoh tried to change the subject.

"Uh, so how are you feeling today senpai?" asked Kaidoh.

Inui launched into a whole speech about how his doctor had abandoned him and left him to take care of himself. And then he went into how he was starving because Kaidoh wasn't there to make him food and how much suffering he went through without his kouhai's attention. _Then _he went on about how much he missed Kaidoh and that they have to play the doctor game more often, which of course, ended up with a blushing Kaidoh stomping out of the house screaming 'Stupid Inui-senpai!' and Inui left sprawled on the floor with a bump to nurse.

* * *

Over the next week Inui was well enough to return to school. His presence was needed, after all, the interschool tournament was approaching and he needed to participate in order to keep his Regular spot. 

Kaidoh also noticed that Inui was being followed everywhere, by Miyazaki. She was _always _there! At lunch, whenever Kaidoh and Momoshiro decided to eat in the cafeteria, she was at the same table as Inui. During practice she would wait and watch patiently and quietly for Inui. Then after practice, she'd walk him home.

Kaidoh thought he resembled a mosquito that wouldn't go away. Inui had already rejected her, so why the hell was she still hanging around him?! Kaidoh was irritated at her behavior and antics. It was like a pathetic dog waiting for the owner to toss her a bone or something.

She had also figured out when and where Inui went to go train with Kaidoh so she would appear _there_ too! Kaidoh didn't hate her. He just found her constant presence irritating. She was useless! All she did was sit there and watch Inui. He'd toss her a couple words and she'd be on cloud nine. How pathetic.

She was also a very big distraction to Kaidoh's training. Inui had noticed a few days later and had politely asked her to leave and to _please_ not follow him there. She, of course, was dejected but promptly said she'll see him tomorrow. Talk about persistent. She was god damn annoying!

So after a few more days of practice, it was finally the day they were all waiting for – the interschool tournament.

In the end, Inui had nominated Kaidoh, as most of the Regulars thought he would and Kikumaru nominated Momoshiro. Two more freshmen were nominated along with them and each of them was separated into five blocks. The two people with the best scores in each block were to be Regulars. As Kaidoh scanned his opponents for his block, the only problem he would have would be with Oishi-senpai…and maybe Morimoto.

* * *

Kaidoh had easily won all his matches. Until he played Oishi. That was where the real games started. Kaidoh had put his all into that game but in the end, it just wasn't enough. As expected, Kaidoh lost to Oishi-senpai, 5-7. But instead of beating himself for the lost, Kaidoh thought through his game play and vowed to beat Oishi next time. That had got his senpais smiling. 

After resting a bit, Kaidoh got up and prepared for his last game. Even with one loss, as long as he didn't lose the next one, he was guaranteed a spot on the Regulars. So Kaidoh was even more determined to win. Playing against Morimoto only made him want to win even more.

As they started playing, Kaidoh noticed they gathered quite a bit of crowd. It was like a regular crowd that would watch a Regular playing. Everyone in the club knew of the tension going on between Kaidoh and Morimoto and was interested in seeing the outcome of this match.

In truth, Kaidoh was actually curious as to Morimoto's play style. He hasn't _really _seen the guy play yet. He shows up for practice, yeah, but he _doesn't_ practice. He does nothing but cause trouble for other club members, hassle the freshmen, and abuse his seniority power. Of course, all this happens during the first half of practice, when no Regulars are around. At one point, Kaidoh even wondered if he even _knew_ how to hold a racket.

But now, after three games, Kaidoh seemed to have underestimated Morimoto. For he could play, and he could play well. And yes, he _knew_ how to hold a tennis racket correctly, much to Kaidoh's amusement.

Kaidoh had purposely dropped the first three games in order to evaluate Morimoto's play style since he had no idea how strong his opponent was. And good thing he did too, because during those three games, Kaidoh was able to analyze the opponent, spot his weaknesses, and formulate a plan to defeat him. And he couldn't help but swell with pride at his newly found analytical thinking and strategic plan.

Twenty minutes later, Kaidoh had Morimoto down on his knees, burning with anger. Holding back his smirk, Kaidoh approach the net and waited for Morimoto to come and shake his hand. Then he watched in slight amusement as Morimoto growled at Kaidoh and stomped off the court, refusing to shake his hand as many of the club members cheered for Kaidoh's victory.

* * *

A week after beating Morimoto and securing a spot on the Regulars team, Kaidoh was content. He had more respect from his fellow club members and nobody dared to mess with the freshmen anymore, for which, Kaidoh was grateful. 

Kaidoh thought Morimoto was going to be even more furious at him but he was wrong. It seems he had gotten over his pathetic lost because every time Kaidoh saw him, he swore Morimoto gave him some sort of weird look, as if he knew something Kaidoh didn't. That crept Kaidoh out. A lot. But then when he would try to look closer, Morimoto would be immersed in whatever it is he was doing. Kaidoh tried to point it out to Momoshiro but that idiot would roll his eyes at him and declared that he was just paranoid. He wasn't paranoid! MOMOSHIRO. NEVER. SAW. THAT. LOOK!

Irritated that his so-called best friend wouldn't believe him, Kaidoh confided his suspicions to Inui. Inui had, to Kaidoh's relief, believed him and resolved to keep a closer eye on Morimoto.

* * *

"Why?!" 

"You're not my type."

Kaidoh knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help it. This was bad. Very bad. If his senpai found out he was eavesdropping in on his conversation, he would have to face the horror of…Inui juice. Kaidoh shuddered.

His teacher just _had_ to make him deliver some documents to some teacher in the second years' wing. Why couldn't he do it himself? It wasn't like he was doing anything important anyways. So being the good student he was, Kaidoh accepted without complaint and headed towards his senpais' building towards the west.

When he finally found the science wing, he breathed a sigh of relief after he delivered the papers. Afterwards, Kaidoh was walking back, humming to himself. Turning a corner he heard a pair of voices, and not wanting to be caught wandering the halls, Kaidoh decided to turn back and take another path. That was, until he recognized one of the voices and froze. Curious, Kaidoh leaned against the wall and listened in, vaguely wondering why his senpais weren't in class.

And that's how he ended up there, eavesdropping on his senpais' conversation.

"I'm n-not your type? Then what's your type? I can change!"

"Miyazaki-chan, you shouldn't change yourself for me…" Inui said sadly.

Kaidoh heard Miyazaki sniffing. He knew she was crying.

"I can change! Just give me a chance! Please, Inui-kun," Miyazaki cried.

Kaidoh heard Inui heaving a sigh. "No, you _can't_ change and you _can't_ be my type," said Inui, a little more firmly this time. Kaidoh cocked his eyebrow. Inui was being a bit harsh, isn't he?

Miyazaki burst out crying. "Why not?! Tell me what you don't like about me! I'll change! I can be your type!" she pleaded.

Kaidoh pitied Miyazaki-senpai. She must really love his senpai.

He let out a silent sigh and pinched his nose. The tension emitting from the couple was so heavy, Kaidoh felt like he was suffocating in it. He never knew his senpai was such a bastard. Does he do this to every girl who confesses to him? Kaidoh really pitied Miyazaki-senpai though. She was persistence; he'll give her credit for that.

"You can't!" Inui said frustratingly. "Unless you undergo a transgender operation, you _can't_ be my type."

Miyazaki hiccupped. "W-what does that m-mean?"

"It means I'm gay.

* * *

**No FAQs this time. **


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Six_  
六 _**

* * *

Kaidoh lost his footing and stumbled forward. Alarmed, he scrambled up and quickly ran away. 

Trying to calm down his breathing, Kaidoh leaned against the wall outside his classroom for support. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Inui-senpai, gay? He sure didn't seem like those guys Kaidoh sees on American television who are gay. He doesn't act girl, or metro for the matter. Kaidoh always thought gay guys were more feminine than regular, straight guys. But Inui-senpai seems very…manly. Kaidoh blushed just thinking about it.

Willing the blush away, Kaidoh fixed his hair and made sure he was breathing normally before entering the classroom.

"Where the hell were you?" whispered Momoshiro, once Kaidoh sat down.

Opening his textbook, Kaidoh looked at Momoshiro out of the corner of his eye. "How long was I gone?"

Momoshiro looked at his watched. "Half an hour."

Kaidoh's eyes widened. "I was gone _that _long?!" he hissed, attracting several glances from his classmates. Kaidoh looked up to check if the teacher had noticed. Seeing the teacher still focused on his laptop, Kaidoh let out a tiny sigh of relief. Sitting in the back had its advantages sometimes.

"So what were you doing?" Momoshiro asked, prodding him with his pencil.

"None of your business," Kaidoh replied gruffly. Momoshiro pouted but left Kaidoh alone nonetheless.

Kaidoh sat there trying to absorb the words in the book but it didn't work. The conversation he just heard kept playing over and over in his head.

Kaidoh frowned. What was he going to do? He couldn't act weirdly around his senpai, simply because Inui _didn't _know he knew that he was gay.

And he couldn't get over the fact that his senpai was gay! The word gay just echoed in his mind.

Closing his eyes, Kaidoh took deep breaths. He was overreacting. This wasn't a big deal; it wasn't like Inui had a crush on _him_. So it shouldn't matter to Kaidoh whether or not his senpai likes girls or guys, for the matter. It shouldn't matter and Kaidoh didn't care.

But deep down, to some extent, it _did_ matter and he _did_ care. He just wasn't willing to admit it.

* * *

Kaidoh cursed his luck. Of all days, he could forget his lunch, he _had_ to forget it today. So he had no choice but to be dragged into the cafeteria with Momoshiro, mouthing off about yet another girl. Kaidoh rolled his eyes. Momoshiro was annoying and idiotic and there was only so much he could take. The guy had like what? Three interests only? Food, girls, and tennis. Oh there was Echizen too, but that's more of an obsession than an interests. Speaking of Echizen, Kaidoh couldn't understand how that brat can possibly _stand_ it when Momoshiro opens his mouth. The dunk smash idiot never stopped! At one point, Kaidoh was even looking for an off switch so that he'd get a moment of peace. 

Kaidoh dropped his head in defeat. He must've offended some sort of god up there to be punished with Momoshiro's constant chattering.

"And then, she said she'd love to go out with me again and – hey! Inui-senpai is waving us over," said Momoshiro.

Kaidoh looked up stared ahead. Sure enough, in the middle of the cafeteria sat Inui, along with their fellow Regular members. Kaidoh smiled a bit and started for the table.

"_W-what does that m-mean?"_

"_It means I'm gay."_

Kaidoh froze as the revelation replayed in his head. That's right…his senpai was gay. Inui-senpai. Was. Gay. Kaidoh felt his face head up as he suddenly imaged his senpai holding a faceless man. He shook his head furiously to get rid of the images. He did _not_ want to image his senpai like _that_! What was he going to do? He wouldn't be able to look his senpai in the eye now…and he certainly couldn't act normally around him either.

Groaning, Kaidoh felt a headache coming from all his frantic thinking.

Realizing Kaidoh wasn't beside him anymore, Momoshiro stopped walking and turned around. He cocked an eyebrow as he noticed Kaidoh muttering to himself and shaking his head.

"Oi Mamushi! What are you doing?" asked Momoshiro.

Kaidoh looked up and blinked at him a couple times before scowling. He really didn't want to sit with Inui-senpai. Desperate, he quickly scanned the crowds in the room. His eyes lightened up when he found some open seats at a table with Lee-san. Kaidoh motioned towards their direction with his head.

"Let's sit there."

Momoshiro looked at him funnily for a moment before shrugging it off.

Kaidoh let out a sigh of relief before heading towards their classmates' table.

"Lee, mind if we sit here with you guys?" Momoshiro asked, cheerfully.

Lee looked shocked momentarily before breaking out into a grin. "Sure!"

Kaidoh sat silently throughout the lunch period, listening in on their conversation – which ranged from tennis to school to American idols and lingering on American actress – Jessica Alba. It seems every teenage guy worldwide finds her extremely attractive. Kaidoh included, after Yamazaki showed him a picture of her.

After they were finished with their lunches, Kaidoh along with Momoshiro and their classmates headed back to their classroom, talking about the upcoming games. Kaidoh had not once looked at Inui.

* * *

As Kaidoh finished up his training in the water, he wringed the towel dry from the water he collected from practicing his Boomerang Snake move. 

Shaking his towel apart, Kaidoh wiped his face of sweat and got out of the water. He walked a bit uphill towards his stuff and flopped down next to his bag. Digging through his bag, Kaidoh took out a towel to dry his leg and foot.

Saturday. Today was the third day since he overheard that conversation concerning his senpai. It was also the third day since he started to avoid Inui. He didn't think his senpai noticed anyways, since he was always too busy. Inui was always studying in the library, tutoring his classmates and friends, or in the science wing doing whatever it is he does. And they were in different buildings too, so basically the only time they would see each other would be at lunch or during their free period, which coincidently, overlapped each other. And since Kaidoh was now aware that they shared the same free period, he migrated to a different place everyday, just so his senpai wouldn't catch him. Seriously though, Kaidoh didn't do this because he _wanted _to. He did it because he _had _to. At least what he thought he had to.

It would be too awkward around his senpai. Besides, it would be a blow to his senpai's male ego to simply state what he heard. But really, who goes up to their friends and be like 'Hey! How are you doing? Oh, by the way, I heard that you're gay which means that you're attracted to boys and are constantly checking them out in the locker room. But don't worry, we can still be friends but I'd feel better if you would keep a five feet radius distance away from me from now on, okay?'

Kaidoh snorted at his ridiculous thought. Seriously! If that didn't do some major ego damage then it would just embarrass the hell out of a guy!

After pulling on his socks, Kaidoh slipped his foot into his shoes, tying them up.

And this was why he was out here, training at two o'clock in the afternoon instead of the usual six o'clock evening. Today was a half day so Kaidoh was able to training in the afternoon instead of late at night or way early in the morning. And Kaidoh knew for a fact his senpai wouldn't show up at their usual training grounds because he overheard his senpai was going to tutor yet another classmate after school.

Kaidoh let out a loud hiss and started packing up his stuff. As he stuff his towel back into his bag and zipped it up, a shadow fell over him. Kaidoh looked up and his eyes widened a bit before he forced a smile. "Senpai," he greeted politely before standing up and dusting himself off.

Inui nodded and then he eyed Kaidoh's form and then his bag. "Where are you going?" he asked.

Kaidoh turned around and picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "I need to go home now," said Kaidoh.

Inui cocked his head to the side. "Aren't you going to train?"

Fixing his bandana, Kaidoh avoided looking at Inui. "I already did," he mumbled.

"Oh." Inui looked a bit crestfallen.

"See you at school, senpai," Kaidoh said, bowing slightly before walking off.

And just as he took a step, a voice called him back. "Wait, Kaidoh!"

Kaidoh stopped and turned around a bit. "Hn."

"Can…can we talk?"

Kaidoh looked at him uneasily. "Um…right now, senpai?"

Inui nodded. "If that's okay."

Kaidoh chewed on his lip a bit. What should he do? Should he say no? But that would be too rude. Kaidoh looked at Inui. Maybe if this was quick…

Kaidoh nodded and walked back towards Inui a bit before sitting down, keeping some sort of distance between them. Inui smiled happily and sat down next to Kaidoh.

"I haven't seen you around in awhile Kaidoh," said Inui.

Kaidoh let out a hiss. "Hn." And they fell into a moment of silence.

Inui regarded Kaidoh with an unreadable glance. "Is something wrong?"

Kaidoh kept his gaze down, focusing on the two lady bugs crawling on a blade of grass. "No, not really."

"I'm sorry if I offended you last week with my actions and comments. I was just joking."

Kaidoh let out a tiny hiss. "I know senpai. It's alright."

"Oh…" Inui paused. "Then why are you avoiding me?"

Kaidoh choked. Coughing a bit, he turned towards Inui a bit. "W-what? I'm not avoiding you," exclaimed Kaidoh.

"Yes you are," stated Inui. "You avoid me at school. I can never find you. You avoid me at club practice _and _you don't show up for our usual training. You don't even answer your phone when I call."

"Fsssh." Kaidoh didn't think his senpai _actually_ noticed. And when he looked over at Inui, he saw his senpai had his notebook opened and was reading from a list. His senpai had a list?

"Kaidoh, if I did something to…hurt you in any way, I apologize," said Inui.

Kaidoh didn't think he could take this anymore. He was feeling even guiltier by the minute. His senpai had no idea what was going on and Kaidoh thought he was being a bit…unfair. Kaidoh shook his head to get rid of the thoughts.

"It's nothing senpai. Don't worry about it." Kaidoh got up. "If that's all you wanted to talk about, I'll be going now – "

"Wait!" Inui grabbed Kaidoh's wrist. Kaidoh felt a jolt of electricity at the spot where Inui touched him. Kaidoh instinctively slapped Inui's hand away and pulled his hand close to his chest.

Inui held his hand, which was starting to turn a nasty red, and gazed up at Kaidoh bemusedly. Kaidoh swore he saw a hint of hurt in his senpai's eyes too. Immediately, he felt guilty for what he did. "Sorry," mumbled Kaidoh.

Inui looked at Kaidoh like he's never seen him before. "What's wrong with you lately, Kaidoh?"

Kaidoh averted his eyes from Inui. "It's nothing," he grumbled.

Inui got up, observing his hand a bit before letting it drop to his side. "Kaidoh, you're not a very good liar."

Kaidoh stayed silent and inched a bit back, away from Inui.

"Kaidoh, what's wrong?" Inui asked again.

Still refusing to look at his senpai, Kaidoh mumbled something under his breath.

Inui came closer. "I can't hear you Kaidoh."

"…you…"

Inui sighed and pushed up his glasses a bit. "Kaidoh, you have to speak up."

Turning his head to the side, Kaidoh let out a hiss, feeling his cheeks heat up. "I heard your conversation with Miyazaki-san the other day."

Inui looked at Kaidoh confusedly. "What are you talking about? I didn't talk to – ahh…" Inui slightly turned away from Kaidoh and scratched his head as realization dawned upon him. "Um…how much did you hear?" Inui asked uncertainly.

Kaidoh let out another hiss. "Enough."

Inui frowned. "Enough…as in you heard my…" His eyes widened in horror as Kaidoh nodded.

"Oh, um, Kaidoh…you weren't suppose to find out like that," said Inui, fighting to control his blush.

Kaidoh looked up at Inui suspiciously. "How was I supposed to find out then…?"

"Well, um, I was going to tell you…later?" Inui said weakly.

Kaidoh took a step back. "Does everyone know this already?"

Now it was Inui's turn to avoid looking at Kaidoh. And his blush wasn't going away any time either.

"Not _everyone_…" mumbled Inui.

"Then who?"

Inui shuffled his feet, taking great interests in his shoes. "Just you know, Tezuka and Fuji and them…"

"Oh…" Kaidoh clenched his fist and then unclenched it. "I'm leaving."

"Kaidoh wait!" Kaidoh inwardly groaned. Now what?

"What, senpai?" growled Kaidoh, turning around.

"Is that what's been bothering you?" asked Inui.

Kaidoh fell silent. No, it wasn't really bothering him.

He looked up at Inui. Inui was standing there, looking at Kaidoh curiously. He quickly averted his eyes when they locked gaze.

Okay, so it bothered him a bit.

"No," lied Kaidoh.

Inui ignored that. "Is that why you've been avoiding me?" he asked firmly.

Kaidoh flinched at his tone. Was his senpai angry at him?

Kaidoh took a tiny glance at Inui and immediately looked away. Inui's faced hardened and his eyes were a mixture of frustration and…hurt?

Kaidoh hung his head in shame. Inui had every right to be angry at him for what he did to him this week.

Inui pushed up his glasses and sighed. "Kaidoh, look at me." When Kaidoh refused to look up, Inui took a few steps forward and lifted Kaidoh's chin up.

Surprised at the sudden contact, Kaidoh jerked away and stumbled a few steps back. Inui regarded him with a hurtful look and Kaidoh was filled with guilt.

"Kaidoh…do you…are you homophobic?" Kaidoh froze. Was he homophobic? Is that why he's been avoiding his senpai? Is it because he's scared, no, hate…gay people?

Kaidoh frantically shook his head. He wasn't homophobic. He didn't hate gay people and he was definitely not afraid of them either.

Even as he thought this, he couldn't help but think about what happened a few years back. He shivered a bit as it flashed before him.

Hugging his jacket closer to him, Kaidoh looked up at Inui hesitantly. He shook his head slowly and offered Inui a small smile.

"No senpai. It doesn't bother me and I'm not…homophobic," said Kaidoh gently.

Noticing the time, Kaidoh turned to go. "It's getting late senpai. I better get going. See you on Monday."

Kaidoh quickly got out of there, and this time, he didn't stop as Inui called to him.

* * *

**FAQs **

**Why is Kaidoh overreacting? Is he homophobic?  
**He's overreacting because this has something to do with his past and because of it, he's slightly homophobic, even if he doesn't want to acknowledge it.

**Is there going to be MomoRyo or is it only InuKai?**  
Well...this chapter should've hinted at whether there's going to be MomoRyo or not. But remember, this story follows Kaidoh and everything is mostly in his point of view AND Echizen Ryoma is still back in Junior High. Just keep that in mind.


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Seven  
_七 _**

* * *

Kaidoh was lying on his back on his bed; hands folded behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He was surrounded by the darkness of his room, and the only source of light was coming from his digital clock on his bedside table. His eyes flickered to the glowing numbers on his right before returning to the ceiling. He'd been in the same position ever since he first came home from the riverside. And that was six hours ago. 

It was nine o'clock now and his stomach growled, protesting for the lack of food. Kaidoh ignored it and continued to stare up at his ceiling. He had skipped both lunch and dinner and proceeded to spend the rest of his evening locked up in his room. There were so many thoughts running through his head that he felt like his head was going to burst any minute now.

Kaidoh let out a tiny hiss and closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. When he relaxed a bit, the image of his senpai popped into his head. The pure look of confusion and hurt, etched on his face was enough to make Kaidoh's chest clench. He hated it when Inui got hurt, when it happened, and even more when he realized he was the one who caused it. He hated himself for it.

Kaidoh growled. He shouldn't have been so rough with his senpai. It was his fault that he didn't understand. As much as Inui would've liked to think, he didn't know everything about Kaidoh. He _couldn't _know. And Kaidoh would make sure that no one else ever found out what happened. He didn't need the pity and he could definitely live without the constant disgusting looks.

Besides, after all these years, he should've put it all behind him. Kaidoh remembered seeing him on the subway once sometime a couple years ago. He didn't even recognize Kaidoh. He was staring right at him and he didn't recognize him! That just shows that _he _had put everything behind him. And what was worst, he was with _him_. Kaidoh couldn't forgive him for what he did to him. To them…

Kaidoh's stomach gave another growl and this time, he gave in. Getting up, he padded across his room and opened his door. Kaidoh's eyes snapped shut as the flood of light from the hallway hit his eyes. Shielding his eyes a bit, he tried adjusting them back to the light and walked slowly downstairs. Once down, he headed for the kitchen, where he found his mother washing the dishes, humming a tune to herself. Sensing his presence, she turned around and gave him a small smile.

"Feeling better?" she asked. Kaidoh nodded and headed towards the refrigerator, looking for something to fulfill his hunger.

As he was heating up his food, the doorbell rang.

"Kaoru, could you get that?" came Hozumi's voice her room. Kaidoh turned off the stove and went to answer the door. Once opened, he stared at the guy smirking in front of him. And without thinking, he tried to slam the door shut. That is, until a hand stopped him and tried to push it back open.

Kaidoh hissed as the door revealed his visitor again. Crossing his arms, he stood in the doorway, refusing to let him in. "What do you want?"

The guy's smirk widened. "Respect freshman. I thought we'd have a nice talk."

Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at him. Morimoto was the last guy he ever wanted to see. "No," and made to close the door once again.

Morimoto's hand shot out and held Kaidoh's wrist in a tight grip. "Of course we will," his eyes narrowed and he moved in to whisper into Kaidoh's ear, "Unless you want your little _secret_ to leak out, hm?"

Kaidoh's heartbeats sped up. He knew he was probably bluffing. There was no way Morimoto knew about his past. There was no way…AND HOW THE HELL DID HE EVEN KNOW WHERE HE LIVED?!

Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at him and yanked he hand back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Morimoto smirked. "Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about." And then he held up a photo.

Kaidoh paled at the sight. He tried to snatch the picture back, but Morimoto quickly put it out of his reach. Kaidoh glared at the boy in front of him. How did he get the photo? Kaidoh wasn't even aware there _was_ a picture. What the hell was he going to do now?! He couldn't let this get out.

Panicking, Kaidoh lunged at the older boy trying to retrieve the picture back. Shocked at Kaidoh's antics, Morimoto stumbled back a bit, but managed to keep the younger one at arm's length. Kaidoh was still swinging his arms, but his fists kept hitting air. He got even more enraged when the older teen started chuckling.

With the distraction, Kaidoh ducked out of Morimoto's arm and landed a punch to his side. Morimoto swayed to his right a bit before regaining his composure, his face hardening. He quickly took a swing and his fist connected with Kaidoh's jaw, sending his back. Kaidoh fell back and landed on the stairs. "That's enough!" Kaidoh sent Morimoto a death glare.

As he was getting up, Kaidoh heard his mother's voice. "Kaoru, who's at the door?"

Kaidoh stood up and wiped his mouth. Morimoto raised an eyebrow at him, as if asking, '_Well?_' Kaidoh growled.

"It's just someone from school," Kaidoh hesitated. "I'll be going out for a bit." Morimoto grinned triumphantly as Kaidoh reluctantly closed the door. Hissing, Kaidoh walked past Morimoto, out on to the sidewalk and turned right, walking towards the end of the block.

Kaidoh looked over his shoulder, seeing Morimoto following him, with hands in his pockets and keeping his gaze on the floor. What the hell did he want with him?

Once they reached the park, Kaidoh found it to be empty. He looked at his watch. 9:30. No wonder. All the usually children playing here would be sleeping by now. Kaidoh sighed and went over to the park bench and sat down. Morimoto sat down next to him, on the other end of the bench of course.

"So what do you want?" growled Kaidoh. He rubbed his arm a bit. It was getting pretty chilly and the t-shirt and shorts weren't helping.

Morimoto kept his gaze forward. "It wouldn't kill you to show some respect, freshman."

"It wouldn't kill _you_ to stop calling me freshman." Silence. "And I only show respect to those who deserve it," said Kaidoh after a thought.

Morimoto chuckled darkly. "They were right. You are a tough one."

Kaidoh refused to say anything about that and just reserved to glaring at him.

"What do you want?" he said again.

Morimoto leaned forward on his knees and looked Kaidoh over.

"Fine, let's get to the point then. It's simple actually. All I need you to do is do what I say," said Morimoto.

"_Excuse me_?" Kaidoh narrowed his eyes. "And if I don't?"

Morimoto grinned. "Then these…" He took out the same photo once again but this time, there were more and held them between his fingers, "will be all around the school campus."

Kaidoh's eyes flashed once he saw them. There were more!

His arm snapped up, trying to grab them, but once again, Morimoto kept it out of his reach. Then he flicked Kaidoh in the forehead. "Not so fast, there."

Rubbing his forehead, he glared at Morimoto. "What do you want for them?"

Morimoto smiled. "I told you want I wanted. You gonna agree or not?"

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"Mmm, call it whatever you want," said Morimoto, smirking.

Kaidoh let out another hiss. What could he do? He was being blackmailed. There was no way he was getting out of this. And this guy was 'dangerous', as Inui had labeled him. What if he wants him to do some sort of shady business?

"Don't worry, all you'll have to do is my homework, clean my house, the works…nothing life threatening, I assure you," said Morimoto lightly.

Kaidoh studied Morimoto for a while. Why was the guy so friendly all of a sudden? He wasn't so gun-ho about being friends when they first met. In fact, Kaidoh was still itching to punch the older teen's lights out, but refrained from doing so. From his earlier experience, he knew he stood no chance what's so ever against him.

Morimoto caught Kaidoh's eye and smirked. Kaidoh narrowed his eyes at him. What the hell was the bastard up to? What was he going to do to him? Was this revenge for earlier in the year?

Kaidoh ran a hand through his hair. He had no choice but to agree. He couldn't let the pictures spread, and he certainly didn't want to live through all the pain and torture once again. He bowed his head in defeat. He _had _to agree. And he'd have to be careful about what happened from here on out…

Hissing in defeat, Kaidoh agreed and thus, sealing his fate with the devil. Morimoto got up and dust himself off, preparing to leave.

And yet, as Kaidoh sat there, something was bothering him…

Realizing what it was, his head snapped up, glaring at Morimoto's back. "How the hell did you know where I lived?!"

Morimoto didn't bother looking back. He only raised his hand in goodbye and continued walking. Kaidoh growled in frustration at the lack of answer. He didn't want to know anyways!

Getting up, he looked up at the full moon. He had no idea what he was getting himself into

* * *

Once again, club practice had been hard, especially on the Regulars, considering they had a game coming up soon. 

Kaidoh walked out of the showers with a towel around his waist and his hair dripping wet. Ignoring the idiots horsing around in the locker room, he headed straight for his locker, which was all the way at the other end of the room, with the other Regulars.

Once Kaidoh turned the corner, he noticed Inui had already finished with his shower and was changing too. Kaidoh felt his face heat up once he realized that Inui was staring at him just a bit too long. Feeling too naked for his liking, Kaidoh quickly walked past Inui to his locker and yanked it open.

Of course…how could he forget that his senpai was gay?

Kaidoh froze in horror. Something just registered in his head. Inui was gay…and the club was for guys only, so does that mean…his senpai…checks out his teammates…?

Kaidoh jumped when he heard someone slamming their locker shut behind him. Feeling more and more uncomfortable and jittery, Kaidoh rapidly got dressed. In his haste, he missed buttoning his buttons on his blazer once again. He didn't notice it until Inui awkwardly pointed it out. Seriously…he was beginning to think that he was the only one that ever got these _damn_ buttons wrong! There were only _three_ for god's sake!

Not bothering to tie his shoes, Kaidoh just slipped them on and grabbed his bag, heading towards the exit. Hopefully he'd be able to leave without anymore incidents with his senpai.

"Kaidoh, wait!"

Kaidoh slowed, pondering about how he was such an unlucky bastard. Why God?! Why?!

Inui placed a hand on Kaidoh's shoulder and immediately regretted it. Instantly, Kaidoh flinched away and Inui resorted to stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Are you doing anything right now?" asked Inui, pushing up his glasses.

Kaidoh tilted his head a bit towards Inui, making it look like he was looking at him, but was really looking past him. "Um, I – "

"I thought we could practice at the street courts," continued Inui.

"I don't – "

"Maybe we could work on our doubles game."

"Senpai, I – "

"And I think you've avoided me enough," stated Inui. Kaidoh stopped walking. They had gotten outside and Kaidoh had to shield his eyes from the sun. He avoided looking at his senpai and chose to look at the courts, where he found Fuji and Tezuka rallying.

"I think you're wrong on that. I wasn't avoiding you." Lies.

Inui stopped and turned around, noticing Kaidoh had stopped too. He raised an eyebrow at Kaidoh. "Oh really?"

Kaidoh didn't answer. He was lying. He had been avoiding Inui for a week for more than the reasons he's thinking of. Mostly because he couldn't let Inui worry about him and certainly couldn't let him know of the deal he had with Morimoto, since he was so disapproved and all. When Kaidoh remained silent, Inui's eyes flickered towards his current interest before returning back to him. Inui let out a big sigh.

Inui opened his mouth, "Look, I think we need to talk – "

"Kaidoh."

Kaidoh turned around towards the voice. Behind him was the bastard Morimoto, leaning casually against the clubhouse, looking as disheveled as ever. His dress shirt was untucked, his blazer wasn't buttoned and his dark blue hair was just as messy. Then again, it always was.

Kaidoh narrowed his eyes in annoyance as Morimoto pushed himself off the wall and walked past him. Kaidoh watched him go until he stopped short and turned around, raising an eyebrow. And then, as if he noticed Inui, he flashed him a smug look.

"Come."

Muttering obscenities under his breath, Kaidoh walked past Inui and reluctantly went to Morimoto's side. He turned around when he felt someone tug on to his wrist.

"Where are you going?" questioned Inui.

Kaidoh shrugged Inui's hold off. "None of your business."

"Wait!" Inui grabbed him again. "What are you doing with him?"

Kaidoh pushed Inui's hand off of him. "I said it's none of your business," said Kaidoh roughly.

He heard some chuckling behind him and knew that the bastard was enjoying every bit of this. At least someone was having fun. Kaidoh inwardly cursed at himself. He knew what he just said was harsh and by the look of Inui's expression, he had hurt his senpai too. He hated himself more and more every passing minute. Turning around, he was stopped once again when a familiar hand latched itself onto Kaidoh's arm. Turning back to Inui, Kaidoh was prepared to glare at Inui, but couldn't when he saw his senpai.

Inui's eyes were clouded over with an emotion Kaidoh couldn't identify. "Kaidoh…please, don't…he's – " but Kaidoh wasn't listening. He didn't want to listen. He had an idea what he was getting into and he didn't need Inui to be babying him. He was old enough to take care of himself.

Shrugging Inui off, for the last time, he quickly walked toward Morimoto's back, ignoring Inui's calls.

Kaidoh chuckled darkly to himself. Wow, isn't this familiar…this was the second time he was walking away from Inui and a little voice in his head was telling him it wasn't going to be the last.

Man…who knew you could hate yourself this much?

* * *

**FAQs**

**Why does Kaidoh hate himself so much?**  
It's because he doesn't like it when people hurt his friends and family, and since Inui is considered as a close friend, he hates himself for hurting Inui with his avoidence and coldness.

**How often are your updates?! You took forever for this update!**  
Sorry about that. One word - Distractions. When it doesn't happen, I usually update once a week.

**Why is Morimoto so different from when he first appeared?**  
Yes, about that...he seemed rough around the edges, but in this chapter he seemed to be level-headed and somewhat nice. (Well kinda) It's because he wants Kaidoh to do something for him and even though he's blackmailing him into doing it, I guess, it's just...well...you'll learn more about his personality later on.


	8. Chapter 8

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included. 

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Eight  
_八_ **

* * *

Kaidoh heaved a huge sigh and flopped down on his bed. It was almost eight o'clock right now and he just returned from Morimoto – a.k.a the bastard's house. For the past three weeks, he's been following Morimoto home everyday after club practices, albeit reluctantly on his side, to clean his god damn house and do his god damn homework. Kaidoh couldn't believe that he lived alone and couldn't care enough to ask where his parents were. And then, there was feeding and walking his stupid dog. Usually Kaidoh held a soft spot for animals of all kinds, but this one…this stupid dog…it was getting on his last nerve. Of course, Kaidoh had softened up upon meeting it, but the next second later, the devil's dog pounced on Kaidoh and proceeded to scratch his face off. The bastard didn't even try getting his damn dog off of him _until_ his face was half damaged! His mother wasn't too happy when he came home looking like that. And not only that, when he's trying to clean up the house, the…devil's dog goes and decides to relieve himself wherever he has just clean, making him do extra…every. Single. DAY!

Not only did he have a problem with the stupid dog, there was the bastard's homework too! The guy was two years his senpai! How the hell should he know how to do his homework?! He spends half the time there trying to figure how the hell he was supposed to do the work. And that bastard didn't make it any easier. All he did was sit on his butt, listened to music or watched T.V. There were times where he would go into his office to work, as he said and the one room where he had forbidden Kaidoh to enter. Kaidoh scoffed at the thought. Like he actually wanted to go in there…it was just one less room to clean, he thought sarcastically.

Kaidoh groaned and loosened his tie. Once free of it, he flung it somewhere on the other side of his room. He'd get it later…he was just too exhausted to even get up. Three weeks…working for the devil was starting to take its toll on Kaidoh. After his dealings with Morimoto, he was too tired, mentally and physically, to even move to train, which he knew was going to hurt his game later on.

Oh…the things he did to cover _it_ up.

Just as Kaidoh was drifting off to sleep, his phone rang. Irritated, he let out a loud hiss and fished for his phone out of his pocket. Looking at the caller ID, Kaidoh swore out loud. Morimoto. What the hell did he want _now_? Whatever it was, it was going to have to wait. He was too tired and he just couldn't move anymore. Ignoring the call, he let his arm drop, along with the phone.

Five minutes later, his phone rang once again. Kaidoh ignored it again. Ten minutes later, his phone made some low beeps, indicating that he had a new text message. Curious, Kaidoh picked up his phone and opened his message. It read one word, which got Kaidoh's blood boiling. He deleted the message and proceeded to furiously dial a number.

Still lying on his bed, Kaidoh brought the phone to his ear while he swung his other hand over his eyes. The personal on the other line picked up on the first ring.

"_What?!_" hissed Kaidoh.

"_Get ready, we're going out,"_ said Morimoto.

Kaidoh removed his hand from his eyes. "What? No, I don't…wait! Hello? Hello?!" Kaidoh swore. The bastard hung up on him.

Groaning, Kaidoh sluggishly got up. Walking across the dark room, Kaidoh stubbed his toe into his desk and swore loudly. Hissing Kaidoh sat down, massaging his toe. He's been doing that a lot lately – swearing. Kaidoh realized he had picked up the habit just after entering high school. Not that he was particularly fond of it, but he had to learn to control it. He hated it when people swore and now he was turning into a hypocrite.

He was turning more and more into someone he really hates. Great. Just great…

Getting up, Kaidoh quickly changed out of his school uniform for a pair of baggy jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt. After he tied on his bandana, Kaidoh quickly scribbled a note to Hazue and walked down the hall, taping it to his door. Hazue had called earlier and said that he was going get home late.

Walking downstairs, Kaidoh made sure all the windows were closed, the stove and appliances turned off and everything in place before heading out the door, making sure he had his keys with him. His mother and Hazue had called earlier and both left a message for him. His mother said there was an emergency at the hospital and that she won't be home tonight. Hazue said there was a party at a classmate's house and that he was going to sleepover too, meaning Kaidoh was home alone once again.

Locking the door behind him, Kaidoh slipped his keys into his pockets and headed for the car parked out in front. He quietly got into the car and sat down, growling at the man next to him. As the car started moving, Kaidoh leaned back and crossed his arms, looking out the window. Everything looked so different at night

* * *

Kaidoh leaned against the sink, letting the water on his face drip into the sink. His mind was fuzzy and he was feeling a bit lightheaded on his feet. That damn Morimoto, of all the places, he brings him to the most popular night club in Japan. Not only that, he brought him here only to make him get wasted. Kaidoh couldn't remember how many drinks he's had since he's entered the club. When they got out of the car, Morimoto kept pushing Kaidoh in front of him, into the club. Even before he went inside, Kaidoh could hear the music a block away and once inside, he felt as if his ear drums were going to burst. Walking through the crowds, Kaidoh noticed there were a lot of wet and sticky bodies, moving to the music. He didn't get much of a chance to look around because he was immediately directed somewhere in the back of the club, to a private VIP room.

The room was filled with a lot of guys with tattoos over their bodies and girls barely wearing anything, laughing, smoking and drinking with each other. Kaidoh coughed a bit as he inhaled the air in the smoky room. The next thing he knew, he was pushed down in between Morimoto and another girl, and was forced to drink. He kept protesting, reiterating that he was a minor, but when that bastard Morimoto sent him a look that clearly said 'Shut up and drink', Kaidoh had no choice but to obey. And an hour and many drinks later, Kaidoh was finally able to extract himself from the strange crowd and retreat to the bathroom.

Lifting his head up, Kaidoh looked at himself in the mirror. His face was flushed, his hair was sticking to his face and his bandana was skewed. He quickly wiped his face and fixed himself up before stumbling out back into the crowds of bodies and loud music. As he rounded the corner towards the VIP room, Kaidoh turned around. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. It felt as if someone was watching him. Shaking off the feeling, Kaidoh made his way back to the room.

Nodding at the two men outside the door, Kaidoh let himself back in and slumped back down into the sofa. The minute he sat down, the girl next to him immediately latched herself to his side and starting cooing into his ear. She pushed a shot cup into his hand Kaidoh immediately downed it. After feeling the familiar tingling sensation and the burning of his throat, Kaidoh turned to his companion, giving her a questioning look.

"Waz dis?" slurred Kaidoh. The girl giggled, "Its vodka, honey. Like it?"

Kaidoh absentmindedly nodded and reached for another one. It tasted a bit better than beer, that's for sure.

Later on, Kaidoh was engaged in the drinking game everyone was playing. Losers drunk the vodka shots and Kaidoh for once, he didn't mind losing. Soon he got so wasted that Morimoto stopped him from drinking. Kaidoh protested at the lack of vodka, he resorted to drinking beer and eventually, that was taken away from him too. Pouting at the lack of alcohol, Kaidoh started sprouting nonsense to his amused lady friend.

When Kaidoh was in the middle of telling her about Morimoto's devil dog, there was a loud crashing sound coming from the other side of the door and then soon, the door itself burst open, revealing a disheveled boy with glasses half hanging on his face. He was struggling in the hold of the two men that were previously guarding the door. Once he caught sight of Kaidoh, he tried to lunge forward, only to be pulled back.

"Kaidoh!"

"I'm sorry sir, but he – " Morimoto held up his hand to quiet him. He motioned for them to let the boy go. Throwing the guys off of him, the boy fixed his glasses and glared at Morimoto.

"You've gone too far! What do you think you're doing bringing Kaidoh here?!" shouted the bespectacled boy. The room went quiet and all eyes were on Inui.

Morimoto leaned forward, placing his glass on the table and smiling lazily at him. "I didn't make him come, he came on his own free will," he said, "Isn't that right Kaidoh? You're having fun right?"

Smiling brightly, Kaidoh nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Besides, what are _you_ doing here, Inui? Isn't it past your bedtime?" asked Morimoto.

"It's none of your business what I'm doing – "

"As it isn't yours. Now if you'll kindly leave, we still have some unfinished business with Kaidoh-kun here," said Morimoto.

"You bastard! Leave him alone!" shouted Inui. He tried to leap forward towards Morimoto but was pulled back roughly by the two men who grabbed him earlier. Inui struggled to break free as he sneaked a glanced back at Kaidoh, to only confirm his suspicions. Kaidoh was extremely drunk.

A clicking sound and the feel of cold metal on his temple made Inui freeze.

Morimoto's face hardened. "Now, now, we wouldn't the floor to be stained now do we?" he said, seriously. Inui glared at him but stood still nonetheless. "Let him go," demanded Inui.

Morimoto stared at Inui and observed him silently. And then suddenly, a sly smile formed on his lips. He sat back and spread his arms behind the sofa. "So the rumors _are_ true. This little brat," Morimoto motioned to Kaidoh, "does hold some sort of _importance_ to you."

"Damn right he does," Inui gritted out. Morimoto let out a bark of laughter and motioned to his men to back off. Inui looked alarmed at his actions and eyed Morimoto suspiciously.

Composing himself, Morimoto flashed Inui a grin. "Alright, take him. I'm getting tired of babysitting anyways," he said.

Inui didn't need telling twice. Morimoto watched in amusement as Inui quickly rushed to the younger boy's side and tried to heave him up. Kaidoh, of course, was near passing out and just protested against Inui's gentle urging. Inui was finally able to get Kaidoh up and wrapping an arm around his waist, Inui lead Kaidoh out of there.

* * *

Inui sighed. He never knew Kaidoh was so…open when he was drunk. Kaidoh has been talking nonstop ever since they got out of the club. Pushing up his glasses, Inui let out a growl. Kaidoh was now talking about how Morimoto has been treating him these past few weeks and Inui didn't like it one bit. That bastard…It was starting to piss him off. He had tried to keep his temper under control but it was proving to be futile. Kaidoh wasn't giving any answers to his questions and his patience was wearing thin. At least they were almost at Kaidoh's house.

"And…hic…his devil dog just doesn't like me!" cried Kaidoh.

"Kaidoh."

"Hic…and I always have to clean!"

"Kaidoh…" They were finally at his house.

"I don't want to do it anymore."

"Kaidoh…" Inui looked at his watch. It was near one o'clock and Inui doubted Kaidoh's family was still awake. Making his decision, Inui shifted Kaidoh's weight to his side so that he could get the keys from Kaidoh.

"Kaidoh, where are your keys?" Inui asked tiredly.

"And then Morimoto-senpai always has these weird people over."

Inui tried another pocket and felt the cool metal against his fingers. Found it!

"Even though he makes me do all this stuff, I still admire him," said Kaidoh. Inui froze and dropped the keys. What did he say?

"He's strong and powerful and has this…hic…commanding aura around him…" Inui narrowed his eyes.

"Kaidoh…"

"Hmmm…he can be really nice sometimes too…" Kaidoh drift off, slowly slipping into oblivion. "And Kurumi-chan was really pretty too..." Kaidoh yawned, eyes closing, "I had fun today –"

Inui growled and roughly pushed Kaidoh, pinning him against the door. Kaidoh's eyes snapped open at the sudden motion.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it! Stop talking about them!" screamed Inui. Kaidoh blinked a couple times and titled his head to the side, completely unaffected by Inui's words. "What?" he asked innocently.

Inui's eyes blazed with anger. Why couldn't he understand? Why couldn't he see…what was in front of him…Before he knew what he was doing, Inui leaned in quickly and kissed Kaidoh's lips hungrily. Kaidoh's eyes widened in horror and he froze. What was going on?

Inui pulled back after the lip bruising kiss and leaned his forehead on Kaidoh, eyes still closed.

"What can't you understand…? Please Kaidoh…don't…I don't want to…why can't you look only at me?" Inui asked, in a pained voice. When Kaidoh didn't reply, he slowly opened his eyes and sucked in a breath. Inui quickly separated himself from Kaidoh and stared at him wide eyed. What had he done?

Kaidoh stared at him blankly. What was going on? He blinked a couple of times and touched his lips. It felt weird and tingling. He looked up at Inui and noticed the image of Inui was starting to blur. Kaidoh dropped his hand to his side and slid down the door, not able to hold his own weight anymore. Kaidoh had no idea what was happening as he slipped into darkness. The last thing that registered in his head was someone calling him.

"'Night, senpai…" he mumbled, before falling unconscious

* * *

**No FAQs **


	9. Chapter 9

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Nine  
_九 _**

* * *

Kaidoh slowly opened his eyes and immediately shut it. The sun flowing through his curtains was hurting his eyes and the pounding headache didn't help either. Opening his eyes, Kaidoh glanced to his side and noticed a tall glass of water and pills next to him along with a note. Reluctantly getting up, he reached for the note and scanned it before dropping it on the floor. 

_You'll need this._

Without hesitating, Kaidoh grabbed the pills and water and quickly swallowed it. Finishing the water, Kaidoh placed it back on his table and fell back onto his pillow. Groaning, he covered his eyes from the sun. He really shouldn't have let himself drink that much. Good thing his mother and Hazue wasn't home to see him in his drunkard state. Groaning again Kaidoh turned away from the wall. He had no idea what happened last night or how he got home. He tried to shrug it off but something in the back of his mind was nagging at him that something was wrong. Kaidoh glanced at the note on the floor as he felt his eyes drooping. The handwriting did look familiar…

And without another thought, Kaidoh let his eyes shut and went back to sleep.

* * *

_One Month Later…_

Kaidoh winced as he observed the damage. How the hell did he get himself into this kind of situation? Sighing, he gingerly ran his fingers down his bandaged arm. This wasn't good. Kaidoh slowly reached for his right shoulder and grimaced. How was he going to play tennis _now_?! Kaidoh let out a frustrated growl and leaned back against the wall. Two broken ribs, some ligament torn in his right shoulder and a deep cut up his left forearm. Oh God, how was he going to explain this to his mother?

Kaidoh let out a sigh of relief when he looked under his blankets. At least his legs were still in tact. Hissing, Kaidoh leaned back and closed his eyes. He tensed up as bloody images and sounds of gun shots rang in his head. Kaidoh clenched his fists. Last night was something he never wanted to experience ever again in his life. All the blood…the bodies – _bodies_ – they were everywhere!

_Kaidoh blindly staggered in the dark alley, desperately looking for a way out. Ignoring the pain from his broken ribs, Kaidoh clutched his bloody arm and ran as fast as he could. He heard gun shots going off around him and somewhere in the distance – the sound of a siren. _

_As Kaidoh was turning a corner, he looked over his shoulder and felt his body jerk forward. He landed on his good arm, thankfully with few scratches. Kaidoh coughed and winced as he felt the bones in his chest poke further into his lungs. Pushing himself up, he noticed he had landed in something wet. Alarm, Kaidoh quickly turned around and froze. He had tripped over someone. Hesitantly, Kaidoh reached out his uninjured hand and gave the person a small push. Kaidoh's breath hitched and his eyes widened. In the moonlight, Kaidoh could see clearly exactly who it was. He tentatively brought his bloody hand to the face, right under the nose. _

_Kaidoh let out a strangled gasp and snatched his hand back. He wasn't breathing! He wasn't breathing! He was… _

_Horrified, Kaidoh inched away a bit before scrambling on his feet and ran away from the body, never looking behind. _

With a pained expression, Kaidoh brought his hands to his head, furiously shaking it; trying to get rid of the all the sounds and images.

"Stop it…stop…STOP IT!" Kaidoh closed his eyes painfully, frantically trying to get rid of all the images. He brought his knees to his chest and hugged them close as tears started to escape his eyes. His whole body was trembling with fear. "No more…please...go away…GO AWAY!"

"K-kaidoh-sama?" Kaidoh-sama? Only _they_ called him that. Kaidoh's eyes flew open and his head snapped up. Two boys stood by the doorway, staring awkwardly at him.

Trying to compose himself, Kaidoh turned around and wiped away the tears that had unknowingly fallen and laid back. His body was still trembling but he willed it to be as still as they could as he motioned for the two boys to come in. Walking in, they closed the door and instead of sitting down, they stood side by side by his bed and looked at Kaidoh sympathetically.

"How are you, Kaidoh-sama?"

Kaidoh looked up at him and observed. The boy that spoke had brown mousy hair and luckily, only had a bandage on his cheek and his left arm. Kaidoh looked into his warm chocolate eyes and saw the sincere concern in his eyes and numbly nodded. The boy offered him a small smile.

"How are you?" Kaidoh asked quietly.

"I'm fine, just a little scratch here and there. It'd take more than that to bring me down," he said proudly, smiling arrogantly. And as soon as the mood came, it was quickly drained and his face was replaced with a dark expression. Kaidoh shivered. He remembered the image of the young boy in front of him, holding a gun in each hand. He fearlessly took down as many opponents he could and dodged every bullet. The sight was amazing yet scary at the same time.

Kaidoh came out of his memory as the younger man coughed a bit and nudged the older boy with him. Kaidoh glanced him over. The boy was at most a few years older than him and Kaidoh remembered meeting him before. He was one of those who went almost everywhere with Morimoto. His dark blue hair was messy and his cold onyx eyes were hidden behind cracked oval frames. He, like his companion, held minimal damage with only a bandage at his temple and a bandaged neck.

"Takeda-san." The older boy nodded at him and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a white envelope. Pushing up his glasses, he held it out to Kaidoh. "This is yours."

Kaidoh stared at Takeda and then at the envelope in his hand. Slowly, Kaidoh reached out for it. The older boy withdrew his hand and shoved it in his pockets. Not knowing what the envelope contained, Kaidoh looked up at Takeda for an explanation.

"Kyouya-sama asked us to hold on to it for you," said Takeda. Curious, Kaidoh opened the envelope and tipped it upside, watching the contents fall out.

Kaidoh's eyes widened and with a shaky hand, he reached into his lap and picked up the one on top. He couldn't believe it...this was…

Dropping the picture in his hand, Kaidoh swiftly went through the tiny stack in front of him. They were all here. Every one of them. Kaidoh lift his head and shot them a quizzical look. What did this mean?

"You can have these back. We have no use for them –" Takeda broke off at the sound of knocking and inched his head towards the door. Furrowing his eyebrows, Kaidoh leaned a bit to his side to look around Takeda to see his visitor. The door opened and Inui's head popped in. Everyone in the room fell silent and looked at Inui as he raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I'll come back later," he said.

Takeda shook his head. "No, we'll be leaving now. Yuki." The younger boy beside him gave Kaidoh a short bow before straightening up and touched his shoulder lightly. "Take care of yourself, Kaidoh-sama," he said quietly before offering him one last smile.

"I hope we never have to meet again, Kaidoh-sama," said Takeda. And with one last bow, the two of them silently headed towards the door. Bemused, Inui opened the door wider and stepped aside to let Kaidoh's visitors leave. They both gave Inui a nod before exiting and closing the door behind them.

Kaidoh wondered about Takeda's last statement. Maybe it would be best if they never did meet again. Their world was completely different and after having a taste of it, Kaidoh would make sure he would never get dragged back in again.

"Kaidoh, who were they?" asked Inui, regarding the door with a suspicious look. Kaidoh broke out of his reverie and stared up at Inui blankly. "Huh?" he said unintelligently.

Inui looked down at Kaidoh and gave him a soft smile. Kaidoh blinked at Inui's expression. He had never seen his senpai look like that before. Blushing, Kaidoh looked away as Inui let out a tiny chuckle. As Kaidoh took interest in the flowers next to him that his mother's friend had brought, Inui moved to retrieve the chair across the room. Kaidoh watched Inui from the corner of his eyes as he took a short interest in the tennis magazine on the desk. Inui looked somewhat different. Kaidoh thought as hard as he could but he couldn't think of the reason why Inui looked different. He still had the same spiky hairstyle. Kaidoh was still able to see his stunning dark green eyes hidden behind his glasses. Inui was still dressed in his school uniform. Kaidoh figured he had come here right after school. How he even knew Kaidoh was in the hospital was beyond him. His mother just found out this morning.

Kaidoh stared transfixed as Inui placed the magazine down and turned around and met his gaze. Inui shot him a stunning smile and Kaidoh abruptly turned back to the flowers. He felt his face heat up and heard his heart pounding in his chest. What was going on?! One smile and he was melting like this. What the hell is wrong with him?!

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Inui returning to his side until he spoke up.

"What's that?"

Kaidoh looked at where Inui was indicating. His face paled and he scurried to gather all the photos up while attempting to block Inui from them. "I-it's nothing!" exclaimed Kaidoh as he roughly shoved the pictures into the envelope and throwing it under his blankets.

"It's nothing," repeated Kaidoh as he clamped down on his blankets.

Alarmed, Inui raised his hands up. "Okay, okay," said Inui.

Kaidoh turned his head and narrowed his eyes at him. "What did you see?"

Inui's eyes widened and he furiously shook his head. "Nothing. I saw nothing," he said quickly.

Kaidoh eyed Inui suspiciously, but after a moment he relaxed a bit.

"Kaidoh, if you don't mind me asking…what was that anyways?" Inui asked tentatively after a few minutes.

Kaidoh tensed up again and his head snapped in Inui's direction and shot him one of his death glares. "It was nothing," he hissed.

"Ah…sorry."

Silence…

"Um, so how are you Kaidoh?" Inui asked quietly.

Kaidoh stayed silent. How was he going to answer that? He's pissed off because he was blackmailed into doing servant tasks, enraged that he was bullied by his senpais, terrified that he was pulled into a gang war, scarred for life after coming close to death's door, shocked at seeing his dead senpai's body, and relieved that he was finally out of it all. Oh yeah, that about sums it up.

"I'm fine, senpai," muttered Kaidoh, "And I'm sorry."

Inui looked at Kaidoh. "What are you apologizing for?"

Kaidoh bit his bottom lip. "I should've listened to you. I shouldn't have gotten involved with Morimoto."

Inui stayed silent as he listen to Kaidoh go on about what he shouldn't have done.

"Kaidoh." Kaidoh stopped and looked up at Inui with a pained expression. Inui heaved a sigh and pushed his glasses up. "I'm sorry too."

"W-what? You don't have to apologize senpai. It was my fault. I should've – " Inui shook his head and looked at Kaidoh regretfully. "No, it is my fault. I should've paid more attention. I should've been there to protect you."

"N-no, you couldn't – there wasn't, you…" Kaidoh looked away. "You couldn't have done anything," he said softly.

Inui looked at Kaidoh closely as realization dawned on him. "You…him…did he…?" Inui paused. Kaidoh stared at him and he looked as if he was debating with himself on what to say. And then he looked up and smiled at Kaidoh.

"Never mind. Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll tell me when you're ready," said Inui.

Kaidoh thought about it. Maybe, just maybe, he could tell Inui his secret sometime in the future.

Kaidoh nodded. "Maybe some day senpai." The two teens fell into a comfortable silence until Inui got up and left for the day, promising to come back tomorrow.

* * *

"Kaidoh." 

Kaidoh woke up groggily. His room was dark and the only light that was coming in was from the street lights outside his window. He let out a tiny groan as he rubbed his head. The doctors probably injected him with some sort of medication again. After all, he did remember dreaming of the incident. He was probably getting really agitated.

"Don't…" Startled at the sound, Kaidoh's head whipped to his side. Inui had fallen asleep next to him and, Kaidoh blushed, was holding his hand. Kaidoh tried to pull his hand out of Inui's hand but his senpai only held on tighter.

"Don't leave me…Kaidoh," muttered Inui. Kaidoh felt his face heat up a bit more. What was his stupid senpai saying now?

Kaidoh reach out and shook Inui's shoulder a bit. "Senpai. Wake up, Inui-senpai." Inui stirred a bit and tightened his grip on Kaidoh's hand and continued sleeping.

He must've been really tired, thought Kaidoh. He dropped his hand back on his side and stared up at the ceiling as Inui's words echoed in his head.

_Don't leave me..._

Kaidoh felt himself subconsciously tighten his own grip on Inui's hand. His pulse started racing and his face heated up again.

What was wrong with him?

* * *

**AN: **Kill me now. I know, I know, I'm super late with this chapter. Even with the tweaking I was doing with this chapter, I'm still not satisfied. Somehow it doesn't flow and I was just forcing it out. This is the outcome of pushing a writer's block. Anyways, I'll try to get back with regular updates as it'll get more exciting as the plot is starting to reveal itself. Please bear with me and I'm really sorry.

* * *

**FAQs:**

**So why's Morimoto dead?**  
Because I had no idea what to do with him

**Is Kaidoh developing feelings for Inui now?**  
Isn't it obvious?

**What are those photos of?**  
You'll see later on in the story. It ties into the plot.


	10. Chapter 10

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに  
Chapter Ten  
_十 _**

* * *

Kaidoh let out a yawn and stretched his arms above his head. This was his third week in the hospital and he was bored to death. There was absolutely nothing to do and nurses and doctors alike kept fussing over him every time he tried to go somewhere by himself. Not only that but the food was disgusting, there was never anything good on TV, and he now had a personal nurse checking up on him every five minutes because of his last escapade. Seriously, he had only wanted to get some fresh air!

'Alone,' said a doctor, who was the one who found him.

'On the roof,' argued one of the nurses.

'In the dead of night,' chided his mother.

'Clad in the bottom exposed hospital gown no less,' snickered Momoshiro. Why he was even present at the time, Kaidoh had no idea.

'For the fourth time,' said Inui amusedly after Kaidoh had told the older teen of his capture.

Irritated, Kaidoh grabbed on of his pillows and smacked Inui across the head with it. He continued doing so until Inui grabbed his wrist and tugged him forward a bit. Kaidoh, who was completely surprised, dropped the pillow in hand and fell into Inui's lap, half straddling the older teen.

And because Kaidoh was having some horrible luck lately the nurse assigned to watch him chose that specific moment to check on him and found him and Inui in a compromising position. Inui had one arm around Kaidoh's waist trying to steady him and the other held Kaidoh's wrist close to his chest. Meanwhile Kaidoh was half sprawled on his senpai's lap and clutched onto a handful of his senpai's shirt. And because of their previous pillow fight, Inui's hair was ruffled, his glasses were askew, his face was slightly flushed and he was breathing slightly harder.

Finally realizing the position they were in, Kaidoh quickly scrambled as best he could, with some help from Inui of course, back onto his bed, blushing furiously.

"Fsssh…w-we weren't doing anything!" stammered Kaidoh.

The nurse, who was blushing having caught the two teens in their 'moment' apologized and quickly exited the room.

Kaidoh let out a huge sigh. From her view point, it must've looked like they were engaging in a heavy make-out session before she had interrupted. Needless to say, _this_ was going to be spread throughout the hospital faster than a wildfire. Kaidoh shot a glare at Inui, who has sat back down and was now attempting to fix his hair.

"This is all your fault," said Kaidoh.

Inui looked up innocently. "But I didn't do anything…_Kaoru-kun_."

Kaidoh let out a growl and threw another pillow at Inui's laughing face. "Shut up senpai."

* * *

Over the course of the week, many people came to visit him at the hospital. Tezuka, Fuji, Kikumaru and Oishi came a few times after practice. Inui came everyday before school, after practice, and once again after work, before returning home. Kawamura came by occasionally with his special sushi that Kaidoh enjoyed eating. Momoshiro came and went whenever he pleased, regardless of the time. He even made it a habit to skip out on school and would just hang out in Kaidoh's room, talking about random stuff. Even Lee would skip tennis practice and drag Yamazaki, Kobayashi and Suzuki, Kobayashi's girlfriend, along with him to visit Kaidoh. No doubt they would get punished the next day by Tezuka but it was entertaining nonetheless. 

His constant visitors made staying at the hospital a little bit more bearable, especially Inui's and Momoshiro's visits. When Inui came to visit they'd talk about school, tennis, and Inui's new data. But somehow they'd always end up in some sort of awkward situation that led to the gossip mainstream at the hospital. And lately he's been starting to feel really weird around Inui. Whenever Inui walked into the room, his heart sped up. When they made contact, Kaidoh felt a jolt and his skin would tingle wherever Inui touched. He'd get shivers whenever he felt Inui's gaze lingered too long on him. And that smile. Kaidoh feels himself heat up and feels the butterflies in his stomach every time his senpai give him_that_smile. That smile that's simply stunning and makes his eyes sparkle. Kaidoh blushes just thinking about it. This was starting to freak him out and when he tried to ask his doctor why he was suddenly feeling weird, she just smiled and said that it was probably the medicine's effect. Kaidoh felt relieved that he wasn't going crazy but sometimes he'd wonder, when those eyes lingered a bit too long, that maybe, he'd be better off without the medicine.

Pushing that issue aside, Kaidoh recalled something interesting Kikumaru had said on his last visit.

"_Mou, Kaidoh, do you know what's wrong with Momo?" said Kikumaru._

"_Eh?" Kaidoh looked at Kikumaru strangely. What was wrong with that idiot?_

_Kikumaru bit off the top of his pocky and bounced up. "Well…he's been acting a bit weird lately at school. I heard from Lee and Yamazaki that Momoshiro hasn't been going to class_ – _"_ That's not surprising considering he's been spending all his time bothering Kaidoh instead of at school. _"– and he doesn't go eat burgers with me anymore! Even when I offer to pay!" exclaimed Kikumaru._

_Kaidoh raised an eyebrow. Since when did that idiot stop eating burgers?_

"_He's been rejecting my offers since last week," said Kikumaru dejectedly. Come to think of it, that's when Momoshiro started showing up during school time. .._

"_Eiji, maybe Momo is just busy," said Oishi in a calming voice. Busy with what?_

"_Too busy to hang out with his senpais?!" wailed Kikumaru. Oishi grew alarmed and rushed to his partner's side, trying to cheer him up. _

"_E-eiji, how about I go with you? Okay? We'll go right now alright?" said Oishi. Kikumaru sniffed. "Can we go by the street courts afterwards?"_

_Oishi smiled and ruffled Kikumaru's hair affectionately, ('Oissshhiii!')_

_Kaidoh watched the pair in front of him amusedly. They were an amazing pair, on and off the courts and Kaidoh couldn't help but envy them a bit. A small smile slipped on his face as he subconsciously wondered if he and Inui could ever be like that…_

Kaidoh couldn't help but agree with Kikumaru-senpai. Momoshiro _was_ acting weird. To give up a free meal from a senpai was unheard of coming from him. And besides that, he didn't talk about that brat Echizen anymore. Instead it's always about this girl or that girl. Maybe he got himself a girlfriend? Kaidoh made a mental note to ask Momoshiro about it later.

"Oi, Mamushi! How are you doing?" And speak of the devil…Kaidoh's eyes automatically drifted to the clock on the wall. 12:15. Looks like the idiot skipped out on school again. Meanwhile Momoshiro happily waltzed in, closed the door, and dumped his stuff on couch and flopped down. He looked at Kaidoh and grinned.

"Stop looking at me like that. I've got something for you," he said. Kaidoh watched him curiously as Momoshiro dug into his bag for it.

"Ah ha! Found it. Here, catch," said Momoshiro and threw the little package to him.

Kaidoh caught it effortlessly and his eyes lit up as he recognized what it was. In his hand was a package of Hi-Chew, green apple flavor. His favorite! Kaidoh mumbled a quick thanks before working to get a candy out.

Momoshiro chuckled and leaned back into the couch. "You're welcome. I knew you were probably going on withdrawal without them so I stopped by the supermarket and got a pack for you." Kaidoh nodded and popped the chewy candy into his mouth and smiled. Besides his family, Momoshiro was the only one who knew of his obsession with this type of candy. Not even Inui knew of it and Kaidoh made sure that it'd stay that way. He could only imagine how much his senpai would disapprove of his choice of snacks. Kaidoh shuddered just thinking about it.

Kaidoh has always put forth the image of disliking sweets. It would not do for people to know that he had an extremely bit sweet tooth. It just didn't fit with his personality. The only reason Momoshiro was even aware of his fixation was because every time Kaidoh went out to get some more, Momoshiro would always be there! Every single time! Kaidoh had no idea how that happened but he was grateful that Momoshiro wasn't letting slip his tiny obsession with Hi-Chews. At least not to other people, but when they were alone, he would tease Kaidoh mercilessly.

Finishing his first one and popping his second one into his mouth, he threw a piece at Momoshiro and tuned into what he was talking about.

"So did I tell you about Miki-chan? I met her today at the bookstore when I went to get – "

Kaidoh sighed and looked at Momoshiro warily. "Did you even go to school today?" he asked, cutting into his friend's rant. This was getting out of hand. Momoshiro was showing up earlier and earlier everyday and everyday he carries with him stories of him and some girl either that or about tennis. There has to be something wrong with him.

Momoshiro shot Kaidoh a mock offended look. "Of course I did!" he said and then grinned. "You know I'm a good student!" Momoshiro was getting more and more reckless ever since he got into the hospital.

"Have you been to practice?" asked Kaidoh.

"Of course." _No._

"Are you paying attention in class?"

"Don't I always?" _Not really._

"You've been keeping up your game?"

"Do you even need to ask?" _I haven't even touched a racket._

"I'll kick your ass when I get out."

"Not even." _You probably could._

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."_Everything._

Kaidoh's eyes narrowed at him. He heard all his silent answers and Momoshiro knew it. He had no idea what that idiot was doing lying to him like that but he was going to find out.

"Kikumaru-senpai tells me that you've been declining his offers of treating for burgers," Kaidoh accused.

By now Momoshiro's smile slid from his face and he's really starting to show how he's feeling. He leaned forward, arms on his knee and his head bent. When he finally looked up, Kaidoh saw all the raw emotions in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but at that time someone knocked at the door.

Kaidoh's eyes widened in surprise as Echizen's head popped in. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Momoshiro freeze. Echizen come in and closed the door behind him. He walked towards Kaidoh's bed and stopped at his side. Kaidoh realized that Echizen didn't notice Momoshiro in the room and Momoshiro wasn't too keen on alerting him. That was weird…

"How are you doing Kaidoh-senpai?" asked Echizen in his monotonous voice. Kaidoh looked up and observed him. The brat looks like he had a few inches grown on him. Besides that, he still looked the same as when he left junior high with his dark green hair, golden eyes – that Kaidoh notice has light bags under them – and his bored expression.

"Fine, nothing too bad," replied Kaidoh.

"That's good," mumbled Echizen. "Oh yeah, this is for you." He reached into his bag and pulled out a nicely wrapped package and a card and handed it to Kaidoh. Stunned, he looked up at Echizen quizzically. He just shrugged it off and motioned for Kaidoh to take the gifts. Kaidoh accepted it and placed the bag in his lap while he opened the card.

_Kaidoh-buchou,_

_We know that you're not our buchou anymore but once a captain, always a captain._

_Get well soon!_

_Sincerely,  
Horio  
Kachiro  
Katsuo  
Echizen_

Kaidoh placed the card down and picked up the bag of cookies. He smiled a bit as he read the card attached.

_I hope the cookies are to your liking. Get well soon Kaidoh-senpai! - Sakuno Ryuzaki_

The girl was thoughtful. Kaidoh peered at the cookies and looked up at Echizen, thanking him. Suddenly he heard some shuffling noise in the corner where Momoshiro was sitting. Echizen turned around and Kaidoh could see him visibly freeze. Kaidoh shifted a bit to look past Echizen at Momoshiro. He was sitting there, looking at Echizen with a pained expression and Echizen was standing there, just staring at Momoshiro.

Kaidoh's eyes shifted between the two as the tension in the room got heavier and heavier. They were all silent for a few minutes before Momoshiro averted his eyes first and looked away, biting his lower lip.

"I've got to return to practice now," said Echizen suddenly. Surprised, Kaidoh could only nod as Echizen quickly walked out of the room.

Once the door closed and the footsteps outside started to fade away, Kaidoh placed his gifts aside and leaned forward a bit. He gingerly ran his hand over his shoulder before dropped it into his lap. He then look up and stared at Momoshiro. He had his head in his hands and was muttering about something Kaidoh couldn't hear.

"Baka." Momoshiro didn't look up. He continued on his muttering and shaking his head occasionally.

"Baka." Still no response.

"Momo." Kaidoh seldom called him by his name and when he did, he was serious. Momoshiro looked up and Kaidoh could see his eyes were a bit glassy. What the hell happened between those two?

"What – " All of a sudden, Momoshiro stood up. He refused to look at Kaidoh and looked down.

"I've got to go. I just remembered I have to do something," he said quietly.

Kaidoh not sure about what to do just nodded. "Oh…okay."

Momoshiro picked up his bag and walked towards the door. Before closing it, he titled his head a bit over his shoulder. "I-I'll see you tomorrow." And then he was gone.

Kaidoh heaved a big sigh and leaned back against the headboard. He had never seen Momoshiro like that and quite frankly, he really didn't know how to deal with him like that. It was just…pitiful. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, it hurts him that his best friend is in so much pain. And unlike him, mental scares are harder to heal…

* * *

AN: So sorry to you guys for such a late update. I've just lost inspiration for this fic. I've considered discontinuing it, but I have too much plans for this storyline to let it go. So I'll try harder to provide you guys with more updates more frequently. But thank you guys for being with me.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに**  
**Chapter Eleven**  
_**十一**_

_This chapter is specially dedicated to **SetoKaibaWheeler**, for her PM, pushing for this update. _

* * *

Kaidoh sat on the edge of his bed, swinging his legs as he waited for his mother to finish all the paper work. He's been in the hospital for the past month, which was already longer than necessary. How were they going to pay for the hospital bills? It wasn't going to be cheap considering all the medial treatments he had to get, the surgery and the single room too. Not to mention he was in the ICU the first week he got admitted. No doubt all of this was going to be expensive and he knew his mother wasn't going to be able to pay for all this. 

Kaidoh furrowed his brow, angry at himself. Why did he have to cause his family so much trouble?

This was all his father's fault. Everything. If it wasn't for those pictures, none of this mess would've happened.

Kaidoh sighed thinking about it again. He reached over to his bag next to him and opened it. At the bottom of his duffel bag was a book. He pulled out the book and flipped it open to a certain page where an envelope slid out. Kaidoh glared at the white envelope in his lap. It was all because of these photos.

Kaidoh's ears perked up and quickly stuffed the envelope back into his book and slammed it shut as his mother walked back into the room.

"Kaoru, I've filled everything out. Ready to go?" she asked sweetly from the door. Kaidoh nodded and stuffed the book back into his bag, making sure to put it back under all his clothes. Zipping it up, Kaidoh got off the bed and lifted his bag on his good shoulder.

He made a mental note to burn those pictures when he got home.

_BEEP BEEP_

Kaidoh froze as his mother's phone went off. She shot him an apologetic look before answering it.

"Yes, Kaidoh Hozumi here. Yes, yes, eh? But I'm – oh. Okay, I'll be right there then." Hozumi turned towards Kaidoh with a harassed look.

"What do I do now?" she said quietly.

Kaidoh dropped his bag on the floor. "Go, okaa-san. I'll be fine," said Kaidoh reassuringly.

Hozumi looked up at Kaidoh with worry. "But I can't let you go back yourself!"

Kaidoh shook his head and pushed his mother out the door gently. "Okaa-san, people need your help. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"But – "

"Eh? Mamushi, you're getting discharged today?" Kaidoh looked up to see Momoshiro's head popping into the room.

Momoshiro noticed Kaidoh's mom standing there and stepped in, bowing politely. "Hello, Kaidoh-san," he said.

"Ah! Momoshiro-kun, shouldn't you be at school right now?" she asked looking at her watch.

Momoshiro rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Eh? Oh, about that…" Kaidoh's eyes shifted up to the wall clock in his room. 11:15. It wasn't even lunch time yet and the guy skipped school.

"Okaa-san, go. The idiot – uh, I mean Momoshiro will help me home," said Kaidoh quickly.

Hozumi looked at Kaidoh and then turned to Momoshiro. "Eh? Is that alright with you Momoshiro-kun?"

Momoshiro looked from Hozumi to Kaidoh's nodding head behind her. "I suppose…its fine with me."

Hozumi let out a relieved sigh and turned around to Kaidoh. "Okay then. I'm sorry Kaoru," she said, giving him a hug.

"It's okay okaa-san," said Kaidoh, slightly embarrassed.

Hozumi let go of her son and beamed up at him. "I'll be having surgeries back to back today so I probably won't be home tonight. Tell Hazue for me won't you?" she said quickly.

"Okay, okaa-san. Good luck."

"I need to go now. Get back safely okay?" she said, giving Kaidoh one last hug before quickly rushing out of the room.

Once she left, Momoshiro raised an eyebrow at Kaidoh. "I'm helping you?"

Kaidoh rolled his eyes. "Yes, you idiot," he said as he bent over to pick up his bag. "Let's go."

"Give me that," said Momoshiro, taking the bag from Kaidoh.

"What? I can hold it myself," protested Kaidoh.

Momoshiro grinned goofily and snatched the bag away from Kaidoh. He slung it over his shoulder and walked out. "You're a cripple now, so let a man take care of this," said Momoshiro.

Kaidoh hissed but followed his friend out anyways. After twenty minutes of weaving in between anxious family members crowding the main lobby, the two finally got out of the hospital. They walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus. Momoshiro, like always, was chatting away about how boring classes were, what he's missing at tennis practice, new girls he's met, and food. Momoshiro was being Momoshiro like always but Kaidoh couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with him. He's been talking more and more about random girls but he never once mentioned his outings with Echizen anymore. In fact, Kaidoh had a sneaking suspicious something happened between the pair of friends ever since that day when Echizen came to visit. The room was filled with a heavy tension and even Kaidoh couldn't stand.

Something was wrong and he was determined to find out.

Kaidoh winced as someone bumped into his shoulder. The man apologized and continued walking in a hurry to wherever he was going. Kaidoh gripped his shoulder, trying to make the pain go away. His shoulder…the doctor said that even though it's healed, the ligaments there are still very tender so he told him not to put so much pressure on it – which means that he wouldn't be able to play tennis for a while.

Being in the hospital without tennis was torture enough. Now that he was discharged and he _still_ couldn't play tennis, you might as well kill him now. That's how Kaidoh was feeling.

Momoshiro and Kaidoh got off the bus at their stop and walked to Kaidoh's house. Putting the key in, Kaidoh turned and walked into the house, smelling the air. He faintly smiled. He really missed being at home.

Momoshiro set Kaidoh's bag down and flopped down on the couch. "Ah! I'm so tired!" he cried, stretching himself out.

Kaidoh, too was tired, but his throat was feeling a bit dried so he decided to walk into the kitchen to get something to drink.

"Hey idiot! You want anything to drink?" shouted Kaidoh.

"Yeah! Anything's fine!" Momoshiro shouted back.

Kaidoh headed over to the refrigerator and opened it to see what they had. Spotting some Ponta, Kaidoh grabbed two cans of it and closed the door.

"I'm home!"

Kaidoh walked out into the living and stared at Hazue with surprise. "Hazue?"

Hazue looked up in surprise and grinned. "Onii-san! You're back!" said Hazue.

"Uh, yeah." Kaidoh's eyes shifted to the clock. "Isn't it too early for you to be home now?" he asked suspiciously.

Hazue laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah…we got uh, let out early today," he said.

Kaidoh eyed him suspiciously but shrugged it off as he walked over to Momoshiro was. "Here," he said as he threw a can at Momoshiro. He caught it effortlessly and turned around to greet Hazue.

"Hey there kiddo!" said Momoshiro, happily ruffling Hazue's hair.

"DON"T TOUCH ME!" he yelled, slapping Momoshiro's hand away from him. Kaidoh stared at his brother in shock as Hazue stood there, face turning red.

"Hazue!" Hazue covered his face and quickly turned around.

"Hazue – " Hazue slammed the door shut behind him, cutting Kaidoh off. Kaidoh stared at the door a bit longer before dropping himself into the couch, hissing.

"Sorry…" mumbled Momoshiro.

Kaidoh looked up to see Momoshiro with his soda in hand and his head bowing. "N-no! I should be apologizing for Hazue's behavior. I'll be sure he apologizes to you when he gets back!"

Momoshiro stayed quiet which unnerved Kaidoh. Kaidoh bit his lower lip, eying Momoshiro nervously. What was going on? Why did Hazue act like that? He's usually pretty polite to guests Kaidoh brings over. He's even met Momoshiro before and got along great with him…

"What did you do to him?" asked Kaidoh.

Momoshiro stayed silent.

"Hey! Idiot, I'm talking to you," prodded Kaidoh, hoping to get a response from his friend. Momoshiro's silence was rare and it was getting to his nerves.

"Hey!"

Momoshiro looked up and stared forward, avoiding Kaidoh's eyes. "Is…" he started.

Kaidoh leaned forward curiously.

"Is…Hazue…ho…" Momoshiro bit his lip nervously. Then he took a deep breath. "Is he homophobic?"

Kaidoh tensed up. He looked down at his own can. "W-why would you think that?" asked Kaidoh, stiffly.

"Just asking…" Momoshiro mumbled.

"Just tell me."

Suddenly, Momoshiro started laughing all of a sudden, which caused Kaidoh's head to snap up at him. He regarded Momoshiro with a half-confused, half-scared look. Momoshiro finally cracked.

"I'm such an idiot. Really…I can't believe I'm so stupid!" said Momoshiro, still laughing.

Kaidoh stayed silent, watching as his friend's laughter turned into tears. Startled, Kaidoh's eyes got wide. "W-what are you d-doing?" he asked nervously as a tear fell from Momoshiro's eyes.

"Kaidoh – " Momoshiro just used his name. This was probably more serious than he thought. " – You're probably going to hate me too. I'm so stupid for doing it. So stupid…" he cried.

Kaidoh looked around nervously not knowing what to do. His eyes caught sigh of a tissue box and handed it to Momoshiro, who graciously accepted it.

"There's something wrong with me. I knew something was wrong with me…" mumbled Momoshiro.

Kaidoh took a huge gulp from his drink as Momoshiro tried to calm down.

"What…" Kaidoh paused hesitantly. Should he really ask? Did he even want to know?

Momoshiro looked up at him with red eyes. So far only one tear escaped his eyes but Kaidoh could clearly see many were threatening to fall. Taking a deep breath, Kaidoh asked quietly, "What did you do?"

Momoshiro rubbed his face and covered his mouth, mumbling something.

"What?" said Kaidoh, straining to hear. Momoshiro mumbled again but Kaidoh still couldn't hear because his hand was covering his mouth. Kaidoh leaned forward. "I still can't hear."

Momoshiro said it louder this time, but it still seemed like gibberish to Kaidoh. His temper was rising slightly too with Momoshiro's odd antics today.

"Hey! Idiot! I can't understand you!" half-shouted Kaidoh. Momoshiro dropped his hand and glared at him.

"I said I kissed Echizen! That's what I did!" he shouted angrily. Kaidoh froze and leaned back into his chair, letting the information sink in.

"W-what?" he croaked. Kaidoh couldn't believe it, why would Momoshiro want to kiss Echizen. It didn't make any sense…unless…unless he…

Kaidoh looked up at Momoshiro wide eyed as realization hit him. "Y-you're…you're gay!" Kaidoh exclaimed.

Momoshiro's fist clenched and he stood up, glaring angrily at Kaidoh. "Yeah! So what?!" screamed Momoshiro.

Kaidoh's initial shock wore off at Momoshiro's voice and he stood up too. "Hey! Don't yell at me!"

Momoshiro grabbed Kaidoh's shirt. "I'll yell at anyone who's got a problem with me!" he shouted.

Kaidoh moved to grab a fistful of Momoshiro's shirt to but changed his mind and pushed Momoshiro off of him roughly. "Who said I had a problem with it?! I don't!"

Momoshiro stumbled back stunned and stared at Kaidoh with disbelief. "Y-you don't?"

Kaidoh scoffed and sat down angrily, finishing his drink. His shoulder was hurting slightly from when he pushed Momoshiro, but he paid no mind to it.

"No, why should I?" asked Kaidoh, after he lowered his soda.

Momoshiro continued to stare at Kaidoh in disbelief. "You should! It's completely wrong! It's not normal! _I'm_not normal!"

Kaidoh clenched his jaw, getting fed up with Momoshiro's stupidity. Who cares if he's gay?! So what if it's not normal and only a handful of today's society are gay? It didn't make them any lesser of a human.

"Momoshiro," said Kaidoh with gritted teeth. "You idiot, I don't care. Stop being stupid. So you're gay? Big deal. I'm not going to stop being your friend because of that," said Kaidoh.

It seemed like that was what Momoshiro wanted to hear because a smile broke out on his lips and he ran to hug Kaidoh.

"H-hey! What the hell is wrong with you today?! Let me go!" exclaimed Kaidoh. This was extremely awkward.

Momoshiro immediately let Kaidoh go and beamed at him, getting Kaidoh flustered. He went back to his own couch and sat down, happily draining the rest of his soda. But then his mood suddenly changed again and he slowly brought the can down again, staring moodily at the floor. Kaidoh stared at him with disbelief. Being gay must've really messed with his mind or something.

"What's wrong with you _now_?!" asked Kaidoh, irritated.

"It's still not normal…" he said quietly.

Kaidoh threw his hands up in exhaustion and groaned. "Who the hell told you that?" God, the guy couldn't get it out of his head. So, it isn't normal. Move on.

"Echizen…" mumbled Momoshiro. Kaidoh sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I really like him, Mamushi. I don't know what I'm going to do. I think I'm going to go crazy!"

Kaidoh sighed, not knowing what to say. Right at this moment, he was feeling more and more like this was the kind of talk girls had. This was not his field. He had no idea what to say to his friend and even more clueless as to what to do to comfort a broken heart.

Just then the front door opened and Kaidoh's head shot up. Hazue's eyes quickly glanced over at Momoshiro and Kaidoh could clearly see the disgust in his eyes. He slammed the front door behind him and quickly ran upstairs to his room, not even acknowledging the two teens. Kaidoh frowned and turned back towards his friend to see a hurt expression on his face.

"Don't mind him, you idiot…" muttered Kaidoh. He now knew the reason behind Hazue's behavior earlier.

"Hazue saw, didn't he?" Kaidoh asked. Momoshiro silently nodded. Then he looked up at Kaidoh with a vulnerable look. Kaidoh shifted his eyes to the floor unable to look at his friend. He was so used to seeing Momoshiro all goofy and tough, that it was kind of weird seeing him so weak and vulnerable. It unnerved him. He didn't know how to act or what to say anymore.

"Hazue…he's…"

Kaidoh inhaled. "Yes."

Momoshiro looked away and stared at his feet. "Oh…" he said softly. Then he let out a laughed that sounded forced to Kaidoh's ears. "I knew it. I knew it. Just had to make sure…"

"Momoshiro…"

Momoshiro stopped laughing and his facial expression got serious again. "It's because of that incident with your father, isn't it?" he asked quietly.

Kaidoh swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah…he…it scared him for life…"

They fell into an awkward silence, leaving Hazue's loud JPop music to fill the void.

"He didn't…to you…"

Kaidoh shook his head sadly. "No…but sometimes I wish he did. Maybe then Hazue wouldn't hate me so much…" said Kaidoh softly.

At times like these, he really blamed himself, for not being strong enough then. For not being able to protect his mom, Hazue, and his family. If only he was stronger…

But it was all in the past now. Once he burned those pictures, everything would be behind them.

* * *

**AN:** Okay, you guys can hate me. I'm seriously sorry for this late update. When was the last time I updated? Oh wow, back in November. I really do deserve the bashing. Actually, I'm expecting it. If it wasn't for **SetoKaibaWheeler**'sPM, who knows when I'll update. After reading it, I felt extremely bad for leaving all of you hanging like that, so I decided that I will definitely update Upside Down this weekend. Haha, I almost forgot, but luckily I was extremely bored. I was going to write more for my other stories (KPop fanfics on Soompi) but decided against it and to pick up Upside Down again.

Um, okay so for my excuses? I'm just plainly not interesting in Prince of Tennis anymore, much less this story. It's been years now (5?) and I consider this old school now. I've moved on from the whole anime fandom to idol-ing korean stars (Especially DBSK! WOOT!) So yeah. I'll try my best to finish this story. I will not be lazy and cut it short. I'm still planning on posting the sequel before officially completing this Upside Down. So because my motivation and interest for this is extremely low, updates might not come often. So it's okay for you guys to bomb my inbox with PMs yelling at me to update. I don't mind that at all since it'll attack my guilty conscience (what's left of it, anyways) and push me to update.

Wow, this is a long AN...I wonder if people are actually reading all of this. I doubt it. Anyways, reviews would be loved. But I probably don't deserve them. But for those of you who do - thanks for not abandoning this story. (Although I'll understand if you do.)


	12. Chapter 12

Summary: In high school, Momoshiro Takashi has spontaneously declared himself Kaidoh Kaoru's best friend and at the same time, his eternal rival. Inui Sadaharu is 'secretly' in love with Kaidoh but it seems that everyone knows except the one he loves. So what about Kaidoh? He's too busy dealing with his own problems – fan girls and classmates included.

**Upside Down: 逆さまに**  
**Chapter Twelve  
十二**

* * *

Since his mom called to tell them she wouldn't be home tonight, Kaidoh decided to take this chance to burn those pictures once and for all. So at around midnight, Kaidoh walked out of his room, tiptoed past Hazue's room and down the stairs. Then as quietly as possible, Kaidoh opened the back door. He shivered lightly as a rush of cold air hit his face. Clutching the white envelope in his left hand, Kaidoh stepped outside and pulled the door behind him with a soft click.

Kaidoh scanned the yard and his eyes lit up once it landed on what he was looking for. Rubbing his arms, he quickly rushed over to the corner of his yard and stood over a metal trash can. Squatting down, he lifted the lid off and peaked inside, relieved that it was empty.

Setting the lid down quietly next to his feet, Kaidoh dug into one of his shorts' pocket and pulled out a lighter. Holding on to the lighter, he opened the white envelope in his other hand and pulled out the stack of photos. He let out a tiny hiss as the cold wind bit at his bare arms and legs.

Wanting to get this over with, Kaidoh fiddled with the lighter and lit the corner of the first photo. He held the lighter in place for a few seconds to make sure the flame wasn't going to blow out. A few seconds later, he dropped the burning photo into the metal can as the fire grew. He continued to feed the fire, dropping in a photo, one after another. He would prod the fire after every few picture, making sure they all burned evenly.

When they were all in the can, Kaidoh watched intensively as the fire grew brighter and the photos turned to ash. His unblinking eyes started to water as he stared at the last photo burning. His hold on the stick tightened as the two figures in the last picture – a smaller one under the bigger one – was eaten away by the hungry flames, turning it into nothing but ashes.

No more…

Kaidoh allowed himself to finally blink as the fire started to die down. That part of their life was – is – finally over. No more whispers behind their backs. No more looks of pity and disgust. No more crying. No more hurting.

No more…

The sudden vibration coming from his shorts' pocket startled Kaidoh. Heaving a sigh of relief, he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Kaidoh raised an eyebrow in surprise at his caller. Why was his senpai calling him so late?

"Hello?"

Kaidoh paused hearing no response. He looked at his phone again before replacing it back at his ear. "Hello? Inui-senpai?"

"Ah…Kaidoh, I hope I didn't wake you up?"

Kaidoh bit down hard to prevent his teeth from chattering. It was getting colder and colder being out here.

His eyes quickly glanced back down to the metal can, now holding nothing but black ashes. He bent down and quickly placed the lid back on before rushing back into the house.

"No, senpai. I'm still awake," said Kaidoh, reentering his house. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, sighing softly as the warmth of his kitchen washed over his numbed cold body.

"It's late, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Kaidoh furrowed his eyebrows and switched ears. "I could say the same for you too senpai," he said, pausing to take in his senpai's low chuckle through the phone. "Besides, why did you call me if you're expecting me to be asleep? It makes no sense." Kaidoh walked out of the kitchen, switched the lights off and quietly tiptoed back upstairs to his room.

"Ah, you've got me there. I must admit I lost track of time. I was about to hang up when you picked up," reasoned Inui.

"Oh…" Kaidoh closed the door with a quiet click and headed over to his desk. Sitting down on his chair, he spun forward and picked up his pencil, continuing with his Chemistry homework.

"So…" Kaidoh started when Inui didn't say anything. "Did you need something?"

He could hear the other's breathing over the phone.

"I heard you've been discharged today. Congratulations."

"Thanks," muttered Kaidoh, forehead creasing with concentration on the current problem. He chewed the top of his pencil, trying to figure out how to balance the chemical equation. "But I still can't play tennis," Kaidoh said into the phone distractedly.

"Your shoulder isn't completely healed?"

"No."

"Oh…how long are you going to be out?"

Kaidoh scratched out the wrong numbers and rewrote another one on top. "The doctor said at least two weeks. No vigorous activities."

"No training even?"

Kaidoh sighed and scratched out the whole thing, rewriting the original equation under it to start over again. "No. Okaa-san is going to kill me."

Kaidoh's heart skipped a beat hearing the sound of Inui's laugh through the phone.

"At least now you can experience a normal high school student life, without a care in the world."

Kaidoh frowned and sandwiched his cell phone between his shoulder and ear as his hands shuffled through some notes. "I don't want to," he whined a bit childishly. "Tennis _is_ my life."

"Don't be dramatic. I'm sure there are plenty of other things you can do now that tennis isn't chaining you down."

"Senpai," Kaidoh said in an exasperated voice. "I don't want to do anything else. I want to play tennis and tennis only."

"Consider this a well deserved break."

Kaidoh only sighed and returned to his homework. The two teens fell silent for a minute as Kaidoh focused completely on balancing out the chemical equation.

In the middle of checking his math, a thought suddenly crossed his mind. "What about you senpai?"

"Hmm?" Inui sounded surprised. "What about me?"

"I meant what about your tennis?"

"Well I'll just go on like I usually do."

"I…I'm sorry…" Kaidoh apologized all of a sudden as a wave of guilty washed over him.

"Why are you apologizing Kaidoh?"

Kaidoh's eyes automatically trailed up to his calendar. There was a red circle around the dates 17 and 21. Game days. And today was the 12th already – or 13th since its past midnight already.

"The game…next week…"

"…oh…" Kaidoh shook his head and continued with his homework. He only had a few more problems to go. And then he could finally go to sleep.

"I guess I should start looking for a new partner." Kaidoh heard the joking voice behind Inui's words but it didn't register in his mind. His chest suddenly constricted and his grip on the pencil slackened in his hand. He watched blankly as it slid out of his hand and rolled off his desk to land on the floor with a soft ploink.

Kaidoh suddenly became irritated and unknowingly hissed into the phone. He didn't know why but the thought of his senpai getting another partner extremely grated his nerves. Sure, he had no claim over the older teen but still! Kaidoh worked best with Inui and Inui worked best with Kaidoh. That's why they're still partnered up. No one can separate them or come between their partnership – just like the Golden Pair. It just didn't happen. But the thought of Inui simply replacing him like that…made his heart clench painfully.

"Kaidoh? Are you okay?"

Kaidoh shook his head, trying to get rid of all those thoughts. Ever since Inui started training with him, he's been a little to dependant on the older male, a little too attached. Kaidoh Kaoru doesn't get attached and he certainly doesn't depend on anyone else but himself. So the thought of losing Inui to someone else was scaring him. It made no sense!

"Kaidoh? Kaidoh!"

Kaidoh shook out of his reverie and refocused his eyes. "Y-yeah?" he mentally cursed his sudden stuttering.

"Is something the matter? You hissed."

Kaidoh blinked. How does hissing indicate if anything was wrong?

"Um, no," he said uncomfortably. "But what does my hissing – "

Inui cut him off. "Ever since you entered Seigaku High, I've noticed that you only hiss when you're irritated or put in an awkward situation."

Kaidoh fell silent. He didn't realize that happened.

He hoped his senpai wasn't going to ask what was wrong, because he had no idea how to say it. He was confused himself.

Inui's low chuckle over the phone captured Kaidoh's attention once again and he felt himself relaxing to the sound.

"Don't worry Kaidoh. I was just kidding. I'm not going to find another partner."

Kaidoh's face heated up and was thankful that they were talking on the phone instead of face to face. It was scary how his senpai knew what he was thinking. Too scary. And weird.

"B-but you have to!" exclaimed Kaidoh, despite his brain shouting at him to not talk. "You can't play if you don't." Kaidoh winced as the words slipped uncontrollably out of his mouth.

"It's okay. I don't mind."

"But – "

"Kaidoh." The tone of Inui's voice caused his mouth to snap shut. "I don't want to play with anyone else. I only want to play with _you_. I only need _you_."

A soft smile graced his lips as he listened to his senpai talk. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach and his chest suddenly felt a bit warmer. Completely forgetting his homework, Kaidoh got up and walked over to his bed. Laying down, his eyes fluttered closed and his smile widened by a fraction as his head hit the soft pillow.

"You're my partner and I'm your partner. No one else. So stop telling me to find someone else. Unless…"

Kaidoh waited patiently for Inui to continue.

"Unless…you don't want me anymore? Is that why you're telling me to get a new partner?" Kaidoh picked up the hurt behind his senpai's voice and quickly snapped his eyes open.

"NO!" he half-shouted into the phone. "I mean…that's not what I meant. I…I don't want you to get a new partner but…" Kaidoh closed his eyes again and heaved a heavy sigh as he threw one of his arms over his eyes.

"I don't know when I'll be able to play again," he said softly.

"…then I'll wait. I'll wait for you Kaidoh, no matter how long it takes."

Kaidoh's tongue darted out to lick his dry lips. "Are you…are you sure you want to wait for me senpai?" he asked hesitantly. "I…I'm not…holding you back?"

Inui's breathing was the only sound Kaidoh could hear from the other teen. "Is…" he took a deep breath, gathering up all this courage. "Is it…worth it? Is it senpai?" Kaidoh asked in a shaky voice, wanting to know the answer yet not wanting to know at the same time. His heart was thumping crazily and his palms were getting a bit sweaty.

Inui finally answered after what seemed like an eternity for Kaidoh. He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, listening to Inui's breathy "Yes."

His face immediately heated up realizing how foolish and needy his questions must've sounded like. Kaidoh let out a nervous laugh. "Um…sorry senpai. I was just blabbering. Forget about what I just sa – "

"It's worth the wait, Kaidoh. _You're_ worth the wait."

Kaidoh's face flushed even more and unknowingly, his small smile evolved into a dazzling smile and his eyes shone brightly with unexplainable happiness.

"I'll be waiting for the day you return to my side…"

Despite the sudden warmth erupting in his chest and the fact that he couldn't stop smiling, Kaidoh subconsciously wondered if they were still talking about tennis…or about something else.

* * *

AN: Um...an update! Yay? Well, I'm really thankful to all the people who are still reading this and supporting me. I love you guys! I have no idea when the next update will be but I'll try to get it out soon, alright? So please review. Loads of InuKai fluff to make up for the (extremely) late update!

FAQs

**What were those photos?**  
You'll probably find out later. But there's a huge hint at the beginning of this chapter. Cookies to whoever could figure it out! ;)

**What was the purpose of Inui's call?**  
The purpose of his call was lost due to his conversation with Kaidoh. But we'll find out later why he called.

Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to support Upside Down. (No matter how slow I get with updates.)


End file.
